I am reading “Poverty, by America” authored by Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize winning author of EVICTED. Poverty is trending but not as you think. X, TikTok, and Instagram does not make $’s on the subject of Poverty. Poverty is not exactly a great conversation topic— be it financial poverty or ethical poverty. This is a must read book for Desmond shows how the rest of us benefit from and act by keeping many folks poor.
Desmond admits it feels rude to accuse ordinary people of exploiting others, especially as many don't even realize they're doing it. But he says to understand poverty requires examining not just the relentlessly demonized 1% but "ourselves ... we the secure, the insured, the housed, the college educated, the protected, the lucky."— NPR Book Review by Jennifer Ludden
The Bottom Line— Understanding who creates Poverty is the big question and Matthew Desmond nails it.
In New York City nearly one in every 83 New Yorkers (more than 4,000 people) are living unsheltered. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 2023 estimated that more than 200,000 people were /are experiencing homelessness in California. From the Redwood forests to Manhattan Island and all in between tens of thousands more people were homeless in 2023 compared with 2022.
As I walk around the town where I reside homeless individuals are part of our community, people we know. Quality of housing in many cases is dismal and substandard. Housing, which is a human right has become an income generating business. In 1948, the United States (and other countries) signed onto the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Housing is recognized as a component of the human right to an adequate standard of living. How can any society turn their head away from not fixing this problem of providing adequate shelter!
Homelessness has been on the increase. Billionaire fortunes increase by $2.7 billion a day! Housing has been monopolized by developers, housing investment, and limited liability corporations, house flippers, etc. The Blackstone Group is one of the biggest buyer of single family homes. Less than 40% of the rental market are owned by mom and pop landlords.1
“Monopolistic power is not a new phenomenon. During the Gilded Age of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, monopolies controlled industries in the U.S. from railways to banking. The last time we saw wealth concentration this high, governments did something about it. In the U.S. reforms were introduced to break up monopolies and keep corporate power in line. If we did it before, we can do it again.-” —Oxfam America
How are billionaire and corporate power intensifying global inequality? Read more at: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/how-are-billionaire-and-corporate-power-intensifying-global-inequality/
flex. 35 Insightful Landlord Statistics-2023 by Catherine Rees- Housing Trends January 9, 2023.