The News

“Inside the Income Gap”, New York Times

Elana Levin shouts out some good reading for this week over at the DMI blog. She writes:

In case you missed it yesterday’s New York Times Magazine was about economic inequality. One of the things I liked about the special section they devoted to this issue is how often the writers spoke about poverty from the standpoint of helping people to enter the middle class, not just alleviating hardship but helping people access the American Dream.

A particularly powerful story in the magazine was about an SEIU organizing campaign in Florida to unionize service workers in one of the richest gated communities in the country. One of the most striking lines was a quote from the president of the Fisher Island Community Association. He said “I have great respect for unions in general. But at Fisher Island I don’t think we need one.” He continued, “I do want them in the middle class. I just don’t believe we need a union to get them there.”

If the Fisher Island workers didn’t need a union they’d already be earning a living wage and have affordable health insurance— but they don’t have either. If the staff doesn’t unionize how will they ever be able to obtain a middle class standard of living and help their children go to college? The Fisher Island workers DO need a union. They aren’t going to collectively improve their job quality through telepathic suggestion…

I haven’t checked out the whole issue yet, but I’m not seeing much on race and economic inequality. And you know what else, is John Edwards really the New Deal? The man to try and eradicate poverty in the 21st century? Because I really want to elect a woman or a Black man. Is Edwards making it tough for progressives?

Posted at 11:46 AM, Jun 13, 2007 in News | Permalink | View Comments