Recently the poor seem to have lost their status as a subject of interest for the Western creative class. Once upon a time, the writings of Jacob Riis and Michael Harrington, WPA documentation, and even Preston Sturges’ films made the struggles of the poor (working or not) a constant and difficult-to-ignore pop-cultural theme. The hobo, a poignant representation of those millions made homeless by the Great Depression, became such a stock in trade during the 1930s and afterward, that he became a cliché.

Today, poverty is rarely a primary concern for the arts. We are more often asked to consider the plights of those afflicted by disease, hunger, political repression or environmental devastation. Perhaps it offends our idea of progress to think that true, soul-shrinking poverty is still with us. Better to have the problems of the poor divided up into subcategories that can then be addressed by individual charity drives and NGOs. Maybe a neat T-shirt.

Read full piece here: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/116219-the-end-of-poverty/