The New Politics of Poverty: The Nonworking Poor in America

Railing against the nonworking poor is Mead's ( Beyond Entitlement ) central preoccupation here. The former research director of the Republican National Committee maintains that today's ``nonworking'' poor are singularly different than earlier generations of the poor in that they refuse to work. He concludes that they lack moral authority and, therefore, the right to make demands upon society. He calls for ``work enforcement'' and the ``reassertion of public authority,'' while arguing against today's ``dependency politics which is largely about how to cope with nonworking people.'' Mead relies heavily on statistics to prove his points, but his interpretations are highly subjective. This is social policy in the hands of a zealot, and fervor more than facts are the draw. First serial to Commentary. (Apr.)