In 1962, a small book was published to some acclaim by a political scientist named Michael Harrington. The book, e…In 1962, a small book was published to some acclaim by a political scientist named Michael Harrington. The book, entitled “The Other America: Poverty in the United States”, shocked the rather small audience that actually read the book with the premise that nearly one-fourth of the United States population was living at or below the poverty line.It was shocking to the reading audience of the time because a national dialogue about poverty did not even exist, outside academic circles of political scientists and social scientists who actually studied poverty issues. Most, if not all, Americans believed that the U.S. was swimming in wealth and that Americans were not lacking in luxury and leisure. For roughly 75% of the population, that was true.Harrington’s book shocked the nation and quickly became a bestseller, especially after President John F. Kennedy, after reading the book, initiated a study on poverty to see if Harrington’s book had any validity. It did.The fact that the book is still being published and read today is extremely telling. The fact that very few of the problems talked about in the book have been rectified today, more than fifty years later, is very sad. It is, however, probably not all that surprising. Harrington had the hope that the more people knew about the problem, the greater the chance that things would be done to eradicate poverty. He honestly believed that true poverty would be reduced drastically by the 1990s and a thing of the past by the turn of the 21st century.Silly man.If anything, poverty has become a worse problem today than it ever was. Most Americans, sadly, accept it as one of those unsolvable problems, like pollution or drug abuse or terrorism. Many Americans, especially those on the political Right, if they …