A surprising follow-up to Mead's advocacy of "workfare" (jobs
rather than welfare) in Beyond Entitlement (1986), offering
analysis of social and political trends that support his position -
while granting some unexpected points to his liberal opponents.
Mead (Politics/NYU) blames most poverty since 1960 on the breakdown
in the work ethic among the poor, which, he says, has resulted in a
"politics of dependency." In several chapters refuting the usual
explanations for the poor's lower work rates, the author summarizes
his earlier arguments and those of other experts (notably William
Julius Wilson) with balance and fairness. Mead's central question
is whether society should enforce an assumption that everyone is
competent to work or, instead, should accommodate the "special
inhibitions of the poor." To his credit, he now grasps the nettle
of the "new paternalism" at the core of his earlier workfare
prescription. "Human Nature," the heart of Mead's argument,
includes some insights unusual in conservative commentary: "A large
part of today's poor might well be described as people, or the
descendants of people, who did not really choose to come to
America"; and, "There is nothing inherently superior about Western
culture." Also surprising is his outlook for liberals: Welfare
recipients, he says, may become more activist as they join the
working world, with a resulting shift to the left in national
politics. With socialism now in disfavor, though, Mead seems to
project "conservatism with a human face" as the dominant political
trend. Mead tries hard to explain the poor's evident fatalism and
passivity and the fact that almost none of their advocates are
themselves poor, but his analysis relies almost entirely on
high-level statistical surveys and political analysis that
sometimes appear to be out of touch with the realities of
individual lives. (Kirkus Reviews)
Thirty years ago, the great national debate was how to help
ordinary, workaday Americans achieve the good things in life.
Today, we are preoccupied with,and increasingly divided over,how to
cope with the problems of poor and dependent Americans, most of
whom cannot or will not work at the jobs available. Mead provides
overwhelming and disturbing evidence that passive poverty,the
failure of most of the poor to work at all,reflects defeatism more
than lack of opportunity. In this controversial book, Mead proposes
concrete steps to overcome the inertia of the nonworking poor
trapped in the welfare system. If the poor return to work, he
suggests, American politics would focus once again on the problems
of the working Americans.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
