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Article: The War Against the Poor: The Underclass and Antipoverty Policy.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- June 3, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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AT first look, it would be as easy to dismiss Herbert Gans's The War against the Poor as tired liberal foolishness, while praising Marvin Olasky's Renewing American Compassion as inspired.
Himself an aging Poverty Warrior, Gans argues that Lyndon Johnson's Great Society campaign failed primarily through a lack of resources. To his mind, the ''War on Poverty'' was a mere ''skirmish.'' He denies the existence of a ''culture of poverty,'' attributing the difficulties of the poor to ''labeling'' (particularly by the words ''underclass'' and ''unworthy'') and to an unspecified ''lack of money.''
Unmarried teenage mothers are a consequence, not a cause, of ...