The fact that nearly 40 million Americans live in poverty is a national embarrassment. But it’s also a choice. If poverty exists, it’s because we “wish and will it to.”

That’s the thesis of Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond, who joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss Desmond’s recent book Poverty, By America. 

We don’t need to capitulate to the ultra-wealthy or the corporations hoarding resources, Desmond argues. Instead, we can change the way we shop, work, and vote not just to alleviate poverty, but to eradicate it completely. 

For further reading: 

• Robin Antepara on working-class women in the Ozarks
• Max Foley-Keene explains the Nordic welfare model 
• The editors on ending child poverty