Philip Alston only spent two weeks in the United States and left with a better understanding of class and poverty in this country than most native-born individuals will get. Alston, an Australian law professor, traveled the country as the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. Here’s how he did it, according to NPR:
Alston undertook his expedition with a series of questions: "Are those in poverty able to live with dignity? What does a government do to protect those who are most vulnerable?" To gather information, he traveled to Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Alabama; Puerto Rico; and West Virginia. He talked to poverty experts, civil society organizations, government officials and regular people born or thrust into poverty.
He issued a full report that is worth a read. His findings would surely make any conservative—wealthy or not—angry, but it is chockfull of truth. Alston said that the recently signed tax bill poises America to become the most unequal society in the world. He notes (emphasis mine):
While most other nations, and all of the major international institutions such as the OECD, the World Bank, and the IMF have acknowledged that extreme inequalities in wealth and income are economically inefficient and socially damaging, the tax reform package is essentially a bid to make the US the world champion of extreme inequality. As noted in the World Inequality Report 2018, in both Europe and the US the top 1% of adults earned around 10% of national income in 1980. In Europe that has risen today to 12%, but in the US it has reached 20%. In the same time period in the US annual income earnings for the top 1% have risen by 205%, while for the top 0.001% the figure is 636%. By comparison, the average annual wage of the bottom 50% has stagnated since 1980.
Alston was also struck by the backward American logic that is used to denigrate the poor and position the greedy, wealthy individuals and corporations as inherently good and courageous. The US is a wealthy country; we have the resources to end poverty and homelessness but politicians like Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan exploit stereotypes to justify worsening the position of the poor.
