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| Philip Alston visits a homeless camp in Downtown LA. Alston said: ‘The persistence of extreme poverty is a political choice made by those in power. With political will, it could readily be eliminated.’ |
By Ed Pilkington
The United Nations monitor on poverty and human rights has issued a devastating report on the condition of America, accusing Donald Trump and the Republican leadership in Congress of attempting to turn the country into the “world champion of extreme inequality”.
Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, has completed a two-week official tour of the US by releasing an excoriating attack on the direction of the nation. Not only does he warn that the tax bill currently being rushed through Congress will
hugely increase already large disparities between rich and poor, he
accuses Trump and his party of consciously distorting the shape of
American society in a “bid to become the most unequal society in the
world”.
“American
exceptionalism was a constant theme in my conversations,” he writes.
“But instead of realizing its founders’ admirable commitments, today’s
United States has proved itself to be exceptional in far more
problematic ways that are shockingly at odds with its immense wealth and
its founding commitment to human rights. As a result, contrasts between
private wealth and public squalor abound.”
In his most stark message, Alston warns that the Republicans’ declared intent to
slash crucial welfare programs next year in order to pay for some of
the $1.5tn tax cuts could cost American lives. “The consequences for an
already overstretched and inadequate system of social protection are
likely to be fatal for many programs, and possibly also for those who
rely upon them,” he writes.
Alston’s
piercing findings present the Trump administration with a challenge.
The charge that the US president is actively seeking to harm millions of
Americans may be difficult to ignore, given that the report carries the
imprimatur of the UN human rights council in Geneva.
Trump has frequently been dismissive of the world body, complaining during
the 2016 presidential campaign that “we get nothing out of the United
Nations other than good real-estate prices”. But he has also shown
himself to have a thin skin when it comes to criticism of him or his
administration. At a press conference launching his preliminary report
in Washington, Alston quipped about possible Trump reaction: “I’m hoping
for a tweet”.
Bernie
Sanders, the US senator who has led the debate on inequality, has waded
into the fray. He met the UN monitor on Friday and sounded his own
alarm about the future of the country.
Sanders
said that as the “wealthiest country in the history of the world” the
US should be providing a model in how to treat all of its citizens with
dignity. “Sadly that is not the case. We are moving into 2018 – we
should not be living in a country with 41 million people living in
poverty and so many more in extreme poverty, and nobody even talks about
it.”
Alston invited Paul Ryan to meet him but was told the Republican speaker of the House was too busy.
Please continue this article here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/15/america-un-extreme-poverty-trump-republicans
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