Over a decade ago Victor Perlo wrote, in his definitive work on Economics of Racism, that: "Poverty is a fully logical feature of capitalism, more completely than in earlier exploitative societies..." Why "more completely"? Because under capitalism the labor power of the worker is subject to the vicissitudes of the market like any other commodity. By and large workers have no right to be employed at a livable wage that would allow them to subsist above the poverty level.
With the era of deregulation, ushered in by President Reagan and the ultra right, there was also deindustrialization that created rust bowls throughout the industrial heartland of our country. Massive movements of capital further aggravated uneven, regional economic development patterns that led to the creation of new pockets of poverty and unprecedented urban deterioration in formerly industrial areas. The plant closings of basic industries brought about a dramatic decrease of the tax base for city governments thus leading to the closing of public schools, hospitals and cut backs in municipal services. Whole working class neighborhoods, in areas like Detroit, were turned into ghost towns of dilapidated buildings. In every major city one encountered untold numbers of abandoned buildings in virtually every block.
Looking at these regions today (after nearly 40 years of trade liberalization, corporate welfare in the form of tax cuts and globalization) over 25 percent of the nation's counties per-capita income is half the national average. Today the number of counties falling below the national average in terms of per-capita income is increasing; and of course so is unemployment, depressed wages and growing dependency on government transfer payments. Particularly hit by this economic distress are areas located in the major industrial centers, in timber, agricultural, mineral and energy resources and regions of the Deep South, the eastern coal belt and along our borders.
The U.S. Census Bureau released in November, 2009 a report on poverty, healthcare insurance and unemployment. This report covers the period the period 2007-2008 and makes the following points:
That there are 39,108,422 people living in poverty in the United States. States with the largest cities are of course the hardest hit. E.g. California has 4,781,201, New York 2,595,816, Florida 2,375,225, Ohio 1,489,314, Pennsylvania 1,454,240, Michigan 1,402,738 and Georgia 1,388,959 people living in dire poverty.
13,240,870 people who live in poverty are under 18. Also living in poverty are 8,549,526 who are five to 17 years old and 4,369,698 who are under the age of five.
Many of those who live in poverty are without health insurance, and this is particularly true of the unemployed. From 2007-2008 health insurance increased to 10.8 percent and 21.3 million persons for non-Hispanic Whites from 10.4 percent and 20.5 million persons in 2007. There was 7.3 million uninsured African Americans in 2008 which was a decrease from 8.1 million in 2007. From 2007-2008 the number of Whites uninsured remained at about 14.6 million. This gives a total of 43.2 million uninsured men, women and children. It is estimated that about 46,000 will die this year because they can't afford to buy health insurance.
Unemployment just dropped below 10 percent but for African Americans over 20 years of age its up by 17.6 percent. Representative Chellie Pingree, Maine's First District Democrat made this comment: "...Instead of bailing out the big banks and Wall Street firms that got us into this mess, we need to focus on the small businesses that actually create jobs in this country. I was pleased that the President last week proposed redirecting money from the TARP program toward community banks to make it easier for them to lend businesses. But there is much more that needs to be done to create jobs...across the country." (Portland News Center, Feb. 1, 2010).
These conditions cry out for a peoples full employment program. Otherwise poverty will increase and working class families will sink deeper and deeper into the mire of social misery. We are not a nation of small shop keepers so while getting the banks to release loans to small businesses will create some jobs it will fall far short of the kind of massive government funded jobs creation programs needed. Dean Baker, director of the Center for Economic Policy correctly noted that we have an unemployment crisis "...because billionaire investors are able to buy their way into and control the public debate..." (See PW article "It's an unemployment crisis, not a deficit crisis," by John Wojcik, Feb. 10, 2010.)
In the last eight years we have seen one of the most massive transfers of wealth from the working masses to the wealthy few in the history of our country, consequently economic reforms must be focused on jobs and job creation as well as instituting anti-trust measures and bringing an end to the rule of the Wall Street barons.
(Photo by Daveybot, courtesy Flickr, cc by 2.0)
