Poverty, by America

Chapter 3 begins by noting that while the most common explanation for poverty is the moral failings of the poor, there are also explanations based on social structures beyond anyone’s control. For example, the shift away from a manufacturing-based economy was harmful for many workers, but this is usually described as a natural evolution in the economy and not a policy choice.

However, social structures are the byproduct of human agency, and in a system where someone is being exploited, someone else is benefiting from that exploitation, regardless of whether they know it or intend it. The citizens of a liberal society do not wish to think of themselves as exploitative, but there are many methods for profiting off of the poor and desperate, such as by paying undocumented migrants beneath the minimum wage. Desmond tells the story of Julio Payes, who worked two full-time minimum wage jobs until he collapsed from exhaustion. Economists have long held that low wages are necessary for companies to retain workers, but new evidence is starting to show that increases have minimal or even positive effects on employment.

In previous decades, unions were sufficiently powerful to ensure fair wages, although they were also dominated by white men.