Robert Reich

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Why your income increasingly depends on where you live — Class 4

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Why your income increasingly depends on where you live — Class 4

Widening inequalities of place

Robert Reich
Apr 28, 2023
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Why your income increasingly depends on where you live — Class 4

robertreich.substack.com

Good morning, friends.

This week’s class explores why geographic segregation by income, wealth, and race has been on the rise.

Just double click below, and you’re in the class.

Some background:

Inequalities that depend on where you live are widening in particularly divisive ways.

To be rich in today’s America means never having to come in contact with anyone who isn’t. To be poor in today’s America means being trapped on islands of poverty from which escape has become more and more difficult.

The questions we’ll focus on today: Why is it becoming easier for the wealthier to segregate from the poorer within a nation? What forms does this segregation take in addition to geographic? What are the consequences? Is this much different from a nation as a whole cutting itself off from others around the world who are poorer?

Thanks for joining me!

Recommended Readings (just click on the title):

  • Editorial Board, “The Cities We Need,” The New York Times

  • Phillip Longman, “Why the Economic Fates of American Cities Diverged,” The Atlantic

  • Jonathan Kozol, “Life on the Mississippi: East St. Louis, Illinois,” Savage Inequalities

  • Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, “Separated by Design: How Some of America’s Richest Towns Fight Affordable Housing,” ProPublica

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Why your income increasingly depends on where you live — Class 4

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90 Comments
William
Apr 28·edited Apr 28Liked by Robert Reich

Thank you, Robert.

I think this was covered, in it's early stages, in The Great Gatsby. The super-rich have been beavering away for 100 years now, creating these islands of poverty and wealth, and I again say the French had the solution: The Guillotine

and it seems to have worked well for a while. 😉

I think ultimately, only voters should be allowed to donate to politicians and PACs, and never more than a total of $5k per year. Citizens United has amplified ALL of America's problems (except for the GOP)

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Roger Stanton
Apr 28Liked by Robert Reich

In my five months travelling in the US I saw plenty of places where there are clearly no rich. We also have such suburbs in Australia. People who live in such areas just want to leave and never see the place ever again. Sadly not everyone can !! I set foot one way or another in 44 of the lower 48 states. Florida , Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were the only ones not visited. I also did over 20,000 miles on Amtrak during that time and that's a good way to visit out "of the way places" believe me. Rich places were not usually on my agenda as I wanted to see the real America and not Disneyworld and Universal studios !!! My wife and I met some wonderful welcoming people who were never going "to make it". So sad !!

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