Never enough : capitalism and the progressive spirit

233 Pages·2017·2.086 MB·English

by  Gilbert, Neil

Never Enough

Never Enough
CAPITALISM AND THE PROGRESSIVE SPIRIT
Neil Gilbert
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Gilbert, Neil, author.
Title: Never enough : capitalism and the progressive spirit / Neil Gilbert.
Description: Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index. | Description based on print version
record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016019254 (print) | LCCN 2016011765 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780199361342 (e-book) | ISBN 9780199361335 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Welfare state— United States. | Capitalism— Social aspects— United States. |
Equality— United States. | Distributive justice— United States. | Social justice— United States.
Classification: LCC HV91 (print) | LCC HV91 .G453 2017 (ebook) | DDC 361.6/ 50973— dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2016019254
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Printed by WebCom, Inc., Canada
For Evan, Jesse, Nathaniel, and Nicole

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
1. The Progressive Spirit 3
Poverty
2. Poverty Amid Abundance 15
3. No Longer a Massive Affliction: Are You Blind? 28
Inequality
4. The Root of All Evil 45
5. Inequality Amid Abundance: What’s the Harm? 67
Social Mobility
6. Social Mobility: Going Up and Coming Down 91
7. The Arc and Ladder of Social Mobility 105
Universalism
8. Taxing and Spending 119
9. From Cradle to Grave 133
Conclusion
10. The Social Compass of Progressive Conservatism 147
Notes 155
Author Index 203
Subject Index 211

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing this book was at once a solitary affair between the author and his
keyboard as well as an activity nurtured by the intellectual companionship
of many people. I am particularly grateful to Skip Battle, Douglas Besharov,
Richard De Neufville, Bekki Gilbert, and Richard Scheffler, whose wisdom
and good counsel have benefited me over the decades. Through countless
conversations their critical observations have honed my thinking about the
social and economic issues examined in these pages.
While working on this book, I had the good fortune to participate in
a three- year project on The Social Contract Revisited: The Modern Welfare
State, which was sponsored by the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society
in association with the Center for Socio- Legal Studies at the University of
Oxford. Our biannual workshops encouraged thoughtful exchange among
scholars from different disciplines and embraced a wide range of political
perspectives on social policy issues. One lively meeting included a law profes-
sor who had resigned from the Clinton Administration in protest against the
1996 welfare reform and a political scientist whose work provided much of the
intellectual drive behind that legislation. These learned gatherings offered a
congenial atmosphere for the give and take of academic discourse, thanks to
the good offices of Amir Paz Fuchs, Denis Galligan, John Adams, Judy Niner,
and Phil Dines.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s 2009
conference on Measuring Poverty, Income Inequality, and Social Exclusion—
Lessons from Europe provided a venue in which to test out some of my ini-
tial thoughts about contemporary measures of material deprivation. I wish
to thank the editors of the American Interest for permission to incorporate
a revised and expanded version of my reflections on “What Poverty Means,”
which appeared in the August 2012 issue of that magazine. I am also indebted
to the National Research Foundation of Korea for support in the early stages
of research for this book and to Zach Morris for his comments on several
chapters. Although stretching the deadlines may have tried his patience,
throughout the process Dana Bliss at Oxford University Press was a continu-
ous source of encouragement and sound editorial advice, delivered with a
gentle touch.
In challenging widespread assumptions about social conditions in
America, Never Enough is likely to raise some hackles. Thus, I am obliged
to say that although this work has profited from the guidance and critical ix