The “Rediscovery” of Poverty
The “Rediscovery” of Poverty
This chapter focuses on Michael Harrington, a one-time member of the Catholic Worker movement in New York City before converting to socialism in the 1950s. He became “the man who discovered poverty” in what is one of the most enduring creation myths in modern American history. A poignant piece of social criticism that became a bestseller and political and cultural touchstone, The Other America was read by some of the most powerful people in the nation, even President John F. Kennedy, the story goes. Believing that poverty indeed could be eliminated, federal officials and liberal economists then set forth with what would become the War on Poverty, conceived under Kennedy's administration in 1963 and pursued, although never fully, by President Lyndon Johnson.
Keywords: Michael Harrington, Catholic Worker movement, socialism, creation myths, President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson
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