Lessons from a Candidate Who Sought to End Poverty

[Sapphire Blue]

Lessons from a Candidate Who Sought to End Poverty
(Part I)*
By Michael Stoops**


Upton Sinclair


~ excerpt ~

Nearly fourty years ago in 1968 this country lost a great American, Upton Sinclair, who had a profound impact forwarding social justice in the United States. He first came to national attention with the book, The Jungle, published in 1906 which exposed unsafe practices of the meatpacking industry in Chicago. Not as well known was Upton Sinclair’s effort to be elected as a U.S. Senator and Governor of California.

As a socialist, he ran for a U.S. Senate seat in California in 1922 and got 50,323 votes. He ran for Governor in 1930 and got 50,480. He described that as progress.

In 1934, he switched parties and became a Democrat. He carried the Democratic primary with 436,000 votes, and winning by a margin of some 25,000 votes.

In the general election, Sinclair received twice the number of votes of any previous Democratic candidate for governor of California up to that point. Final vote: Frank Merriam—1,138,620 Sinclair—879,537.

He died in 1968.

Unlike modern day candidates (with the possible exception of former U.S. Senator John Edwards and now Presidential candidate), he ran on a platform of ending poverty in California.

(snip)

In his own words, Sinclair said,

“But I cannot enjoy the comforts of home, and the freedom of work and recreation which I have earned, while I know there are millions of others around me suffering for lack of common necessities.

Here are thousands of people wandering homeless, and thousands of homes which no one is allowed to occupy. Here are a million people who want to work and are not allowed to work.

I say, positively and without qualification, we can end poverty in California. I know exactly how to do it, and if you elect me Governor, with a Legislature to support me, I will put the job through—and I won’t take more than one or two or four years.

I say that there is no excuse for poverty in a civilized and wealthy State like ours. I say that we can and should see to it that all men and women of our State who are willing to work should have work suited to their capacities, and should be paid a wage that will enable them to maintain a decent home and an American standard of living.

I say that every old person should be provided for in comfort, and likewise every orphaned child and every person who is sick or incapacitated. I repeat that this can be done, and that I know how to do it. If I take up the job, I will stick until it is finished, and there will be no delay and no shilly-shallying. There will be action, and continuous action, until the last man, woman, and child has these fundamental economic rights. Again, I say: End Poverty in California.”

Later on Sinclair said that the slogan, “End Poverty in California”, really meant to him, “End Poverty in Civilization.”

His “End Poverty in California” (EPIC) had twelve basic principles. Some of the more interesting/unique/prophetic ones included:

1. God created the natural wealth of the earth for the use of all men, not a few.
2. When some men live without working, other men are working without living.
3. The existence of luxury in the presence of poverty and destitution is contrary to good morals and sound public policy.
4. The cause of the trouble is that a small class has the wealth, while the rest have debts.

(snip)

Sinclair’s Legacy for the Upcoming 2008 Presidential Campaign

The campaign practices and public policy of Upton Sinclair should be inspirational to today’s candidates and lawmakers. Poverty in the US has reached devastatingly high levels and without decisive action from public officials, will continue with catastrophic results. Hopefully, the ideas and dreams of Mr. Sinclair can educate our politicians and allow them to use his own campaign to end poverty as a model in the ’08 presidential election.

__________________________________________________

*First of a two-part series. The second article entitled, I, President (_____________--fill in the blank) of the U.S. and How I Ended Poverty. A True Story of the Future, will be published soon.

**Michael Stoops is the Acting Executive Director of the Washington, DC-based National Coalition for the Homeless.

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/civilrights/Sinclair/index.html

[burrowowl]

1. K&R

Some history People, some history.
Please read: A Peoples' History of the United States, Howard Zinn.

[EFerrari]

2. K&R And yes, read Howard!

:loveya:

[Wilms]

3. You're wonderful.

:hug:

[Sapphire Blue]

4. Me, I'm just an old woman. Sinclair was wonderful!

I think I'll make copies of this & mail them to our presidential candidates. My senators & representative, too. And my governor while I'm at it.

[brer cat]

8. You may be an "old woman",

but you are a very important one. You are tireless trying to keep poverty on the greatest page, and I salute you!

K&R from another old woman.

[Sapphire Blue]

11. ..

:toast:

:hi: :hug:

[Nicole]

5. Kick

:kick:

[hfojvt]

6. it is amazing that Sinclair was visionary enough to believe

poverty could be ended in 1934. I do not have historical statistics available back to 1934, but in 1960 per capita GDP was $13,148. At some point in the 1960s, President Johnson declared war on poverty after Harrington's book "The Other America" shone light on poverty in America. (About 25 years later, I still thought it was an eye-opening read.)

In 2000, per capita GDP was $33,833. Suppose the top 20% takes half the income. That still leaves $21,145 per person for the other 80%. It must be possible to eliminate poverty in this day and age. How can $33,000 per person not be enough?

I am also reminded of this Nation piece:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030317/newfield

"What I learned was that in some ways little has changed since Riis published his reportorial findings in 1890. The poor are still largely invisible to the complacent majority. Most Americans don't see the everydayness of poverty. It is segregated in "bad neighborhoods" and in impersonal government waiting rooms. We don't see all the people being told there are no applications for food stamps available at that location; all the people postponing medical treatment for their children because they don't have health insurance; all the people trying to find a job with their phone service shut off because they couldn't pay the bill; or all the deliverymen for drugstores and supermarkets paid only $3 an hour, which is illegal."

Also important, if this a-hole becomes the Republican candidate:

"About 800,000 city residents are eligible for food stamps, but do not receive them. During Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's second term, barriers to access were intentionally created, causing a 42 percent drop in recipients. A federal judge, the federal Agriculture Department and Governor Pataki's social service commissioner all found that poor people were being denied access improperly. City officials were claiming to visitors that they had no applications. The applications that were distributed were sixteen pages long and unnecessarily complex. Other bureaucratic games were played to discourage participation in the program. Giuliani's administration fostered a subtle culture of rejection.

Giuliani came to see--and speak of--food stamps as a costly "welfare program" that increased what he called "a culture of dependency." "

Yet that would have been Federal money coming into NYC which would have helped the local economy.

[Sapphire Blue]

7. Giuliani is proud of his attack on the poor. What might Sinclair have said to him?

“I proposed that all homes assessed at less than $3000 shall be exempt from taxation. Anybody who lives in that poor a home in these times needs help and not taxing. Homes from $3000 to $5000 pay a normal rate, and for each additional $5000 we add one-half of one per cent. That means that if you live in a $100,000 home you will pay a tax of about 11%, and if you don’t care to pay that, the State will take over your mansion and turn it into a public institution for orphaned children, or for the aged, or for those who have acquired tuberculosis by slaving twelve hours a day in a department store or a restaurant kitchen,” said the candidate.

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/civilrights/Sinclair/index.html

I'd love to see the State take over Giuliani's "mansion and turn it into a public institution for orphaned children, or for the aged, or for those who have acquired tuberculosis by slaving twelve hours a day in a department store or a restaurant kitchen".

[LeftishBrit]

9. He seems to have been a very interesting man, and ahead of his time

[Time for change]

10. Kick for a great American hero

John Edwards' courage to campaign against poverty despite the conventional wisdom that that is a losing strategy was the main reason that I campaigned for him in the 04 primaries.

But as much as I like Edwards I think I'll go with Kucinich this time, because I feel that he has better judgement about war and peace issues.

[bobbolink]

12. What has happened that people have lost the ability to care?

"“But I cannot enjoy the comforts of home, and the freedom of work and recreation which I have earned, while I know there are millions of others around me suffering for lack of common necessities."

Just recently, I've heard so many people talk about their childhoods, and how their parents and grandparents helped others all the time. I've heard, recently, so many stories of people of the past generation and the generation before that, and how people reached out in compassion to strangers.

How have we lost that?

What has become of our national soul?

[Sapphire Blue]

13. ..

:kick:

[burrowowl]

14. KICK!

For Young Wippersnappers!

[Cleita]

15. And here we still are in California with the same problems that we know

had a century ago and yet we still can't change anything. Why do we have a Republican for a governor when we elected a Democrat? I don't know how things will change until we truly get government by the people and for the people. For that we need a true democracy. Will California be the first to try it a real democracy Athenian style?