Chuck Darwin<p>As a child, Mathew Desmond experienced poverty firsthand. </p><p>He saw his family home repossessed and endured the stresses and humiliations of his family’s lack of means. </p><p>It raised the question that he would go on to dedicate his professional life to answering: </p><p>❓Why is there such stark <a href="https://c.im/tags/inequality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>inequality</span></a> in America?❓</p><p>The hard truth, he said, is that <br>💥so many of us benefit from it.💥</p><p>Desmond shared a litany of statistics illustrating the growing burden of poverty and inequality in the United States:</p><p> • 1 in 3 families live in a household that has an income of $55,000 a year or less.<br> • 38 million people are below the federal poverty level of $30,000 for a family of four.<br> • Evictions have increased by 22% since the turn of the century.<br> • The number of public-school kids who are unhoused has increased by 74% since the turn of century.<br> • The amount of inflation-adjusted, non-mortgage debt has increased by more than 200% -- and the number of families reporting no income apart from food stamps has quadrupled since the 2008 recession.<br> • Since 1985, rent increases have outpaced wage growth by 325%.<br> • Each year, people are charged $11 billion in overdraft fees and $10 billion in payday loan fees.</p><p>“So, here's one reason there's so much poverty in America today: </p><p>because the poor are <a href="https://c.im/tags/exploited" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>exploited</span></a>,” <br>said Desmond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Evicted" and his more recent work "Poverty, by America". </p><p>“I think it's a word we should use more.”</p><p>👉The exploitation is perpetuated, not only by the corporations, financial institutions, and landlords who withhold fair wages, charge exorbitant fees, and profit off those in poverty, <br>👉but also by affluent Americans who benefit from the exploitation, he said.</p><p>Desmond quoted an analogy from novelist Tommy Orange, </p><p>“Kids are jumping out the windows of burning buildings, falling to their deaths. And we think the problem is that they’re jumping.”</p><p>🔥The American approach to poverty has often been to focus on those who are poor and what they can do to uplift themselves -- rather than changing the systems that keep them poor. </p><p>This can be uncomfortable for those whose <a href="https://c.im/tags/property" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>property</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/values" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>values</span></a> are protected by ⚠️segregation of affordable housing, <br>those who have invested in the <a href="https://c.im/tags/stock" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>stock</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/market" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>market</span></a> and make money when ⚠️exploitative corporations net profits, <br>and those with <a href="https://c.im/tags/free" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>free</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/checking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>checking</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/accounts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>accounts</span></a> that are ⚠️subsidized by the poor who pay fees for their lack of capital, he explained.</p><p>The affluent also benefit from government subsidies more than the poor, he said. </p><p>According to Desmond, the <a href="https://c.im/tags/wealthiest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>wealthiest</span></a> families in the United States receive an average of about 🔷$35,000 annually in tax benefits, while the <a href="https://c.im/tags/poorest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>poorest</span></a> get an average of ♦️$25,000 in subsidies. </p><p>These are realized in <a href="https://c.im/tags/mortgage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>mortgage</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/incentives" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>incentives</span></a>, special <a href="https://c.im/tags/investment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>investment</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/accounts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>accounts</span></a>, like #529 accounts that help pay for college, and other <a href="https://c.im/tags/tax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>tax</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/breaks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>breaks</span></a> for the wealthy.</p><p>Many affluent families further contribute to poverty by building communities that exclude and marginalize the poor <br>— pushing them out of their neighborhoods using <a href="https://c.im/tags/zoning" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>zoning</span></a> ordinances, Desmond said</p><p><a href="https://www.aamc.org/news/we-can-solve-poverty-america-we-just-don-t-want" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">aamc.org/news/we-can-solve-pov</span><span class="invisible">erty-america-we-just-don-t-want</span></a></p>