Rethinking American Poverty

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A podcast by Maxwell Gladwell, My Little Hundred Million, tells the story of Hank Rowan. Hank Rowan donated 100 million dollars to New Jersey’s Glassboro University in 1992. Rowan’s donation was one of the largest of its kind at the time, he donated to a small college with a middling academic reputation. Gladwell discusses the inequities in financing higher education. In the article, Rethinking American Poverty, by Mark R. Rank, he challenges readers to redefine what causes poverty. Rank makes the case that poverty is not due to individual failure but structural constraints. If Rethinking American Poverty by Mark R. Rank is right that poverty is due to structural failings, this conclusion will have major consequences for Americans. Both Gladwell

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