[PEN-L:715] Re: Re: redefining the poor out of existence

[James Devine <jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>MBS suggested that...
>>"A more renegade thought is that it is a mistake to zero in on poverty in
>>the first place, rather than put the condition of the working class first.
>>If the class is well-served, so too will be the poor"
>>
>>On the contrary, I find the issues of welfare, minimum wage, homelessness
>>very useful politically.

Tom Kruse adds:
>Interesting.  Here the discourses on povery are completely taken over by
>owners, operators, and development technocrats.  And the conception is akin
>to the World Bank's, whose webpage now sports a "world without poverty"
>doo-dad.  I thik we need to stop talkling about it all together here.  Ivian
>Illich's _Invention of Poverty_ is light in the darkness in this regard.

It seems to me that we should emphasize the _solidarity_ between the poor
and the working class rather than seeing their interests as opposed or
hoping that good stuff for the working class will trickle down to the poor
or that good stuff for the poor will trickle up. Think about programs that
are good for both, such as full employment, training & education, a rising
real minimum wage ...

If one takes Rawls' idea of justice as helping the worst-off at all
seriously, it suggests we should pay attention to the situation of the
poor. I think at its best, the left is better able to do it than the World
Bank or the Catholic Church.

Tom, could you sketch Illich's view?

Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx &
http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html