Trump’s Bottling of Old Wine

Can we finally lose our bipartisan taste for workfare?

It is tempting to see President Trump’s executive order directing his agencies to find ways to require work as a condition for receiving means-tested benefits as another example of his outsized callousness. By casting all means-tested aid programs as “welfare,” Trump’s executive order supersizes “workfare” by linking benefits to work. There are ...
Read More
Trump’s Bottling of Old Wine

The Long Shadow

The legacy of the Moynihan Report and the limits of postwar liberalism

In Rochester NY, where I live, a recent poverty initiative has been proposed to address some of the most deeply entrenched poverty areas of this country. History casts its long shadow over the understanding of poverty evinced by these initiatives. Short on proposals to empower the community, the reading lists ...
Read More
The Long Shadow

Sitting To Stand

Protest, Patriotism, and the Endurance of White Supremacy

Since San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to stay seated during the national anthem, this country has witnessed an extended attempt to diminish his act. Former quarterback Boomer Esiason said that Kaepernick was “about as disrespectful as any athlete has ever been,” whereas Hall of Fame baseball manager Tony ...
Read More
Placeholder