[lbo-talk] George Will: poverty caused by lack of hygiene...

[Michael Hoover]

>>> farmelantj at juno.com 03/06/06 5:06 PM >>>
It's shocking that George Will doesn't remember the name, Ed Banfield,
who was peddling the same crap almost forty years ago
in his book, *The Unheavenly City*, not to speak of the
whole host of "culture of poverty" theorists who preceded
Banfield. What Will calls the new paradigm concerning
poverty looks just like the old paradigm that has prevailed
in the US since the beginning of the Republic, namely
the poor are poor because they are defective in some
way, whether that be having a poor work ethic, lack
of native intelligence, inferior genetic heritage etc.,
etc. which prevent them from taking advantage of
the opportunities afforded by a market economy.
Poverty in the new/old paradigm is the fault of the
poor rather than the inevitable result of the workings
of a capitalist economy.
<<<<<>>>>>

banfield wrote in above-titled book that contemporary
poverty is little more than gap between poor people's 
limited capabilities and their inflated aspirations for upper-
middle class lifestyle...   mh