failing and you see the state government in louisiana failing and the federal response being absolutely inept. that was televised all over the world and people saw that. if berger collapsed confidence in the ability of government to do good. you see that in the interpol numbers. almost nobody has confidence in the ability of congress to do anything. almost nobody likes the way congress works. it's a little bit -- even then there is tremendous public distrust and tremendous public anger. a lot of the anger justified and a lot of that distrust justified. ..

>> in the obviously had the

question becomes how do you turn that and make a real? what can ordinary people do a and whoses possibility is that if government has that and responsive to use this point to apply the pressure to get the apartment to respond? >> it is a terrific question i always thought it comes from the ground up with groups of people have organized whether trade union source of of rights organizations usually the most inspiring and has a critical mass of paper -- people have said they his half to change you do see groups like the national

people's action having a creative approach of the baking system, housing crisis also he said i have never been political outside the boy i was. i have never done anything but i cannot stand the way that corporations take it from us. talking about the way the taxes are structured in the banks were bailed out a and he was going to use shareholder meetings protesting the decisions of the bakers are making it what other corporations had mated basically that is probably what will happen over the next 10 or 50 years. some would tackle it with initiatives. california at a debate

legislation proposed in dollars per hour minimum-wage bryce suspect that would happen with cross organizing and you say people who cable id with optimism with the obama but i suspect he himself realizes that if the and so are going to change he and his colleagues have to be flushed to make those changes. roosevelt said that that the people are record to push him in this seems to be with political leadership it is the age-old defense of both sides to gauge there is room for change. not overnighted overtime fare is proved to shift said debate on this. >> is terrific if we could

give to it died a round of applause. [applause] i that those answers were so saw fall and detailed acute could really get into its. so let's have some questions and we will try. go for it. >> i am sorry we are recording this is from new york. [laughter] >> why do you think the

american populace is so lacking of the but the? >> can i twist the question a bit? said of think it is the public but the way the politics looks at the moment. when you talk to people individually they can be quite sympathetic especially with euthanize stories in which people are presented with abstract concepts, of the food stamps are the stereotypes that is when the lack of empathy kicks in and the overhead you say how about this person who's lost their job and are hungry? they may not have thought through the of but i do tend

to to seek fair is a well of the big thing that needs to be channeled. i am not to try and to imply that. >> disagree. the people answered with you can help everybody so why should do help they won the? >> some people will say that but the way the communications technology works the amplified so if you have a creek comments it is easy to think ready in the country thinks that way but actually more than likely they don't think that way with those who are a greek, are ones that go on line so we have to be careful but some people do

say some cruel things. >> before is something very important was raised. it is that the core of this public perception and i work on the streets in new york on the '60s i dealt with the slum of the slums. but what stuck with the white people was that party was black and latin. you never understood the depth of their alignment and self interest and have will point out what i did. when michele bachmann miss out there i did it analysis of congressional spending in went to every cinco freshman

district. michelle said millions of dollars may be $1 billion of federal funds fell grant, food stamps, social security benefits they have no much federal monday -- many for the kid across the street that dialogue was missing from any discourse. i gave it to "the new york times" they did one story but it has appeared no place. the tea party people don't know how much money the federal government gives their own people. if that dialogue becomes all known then the government is not viewed as the alien beast because those that control the tea party propaganda are the rich people felt like this conversation and rush limbaugh flies his own jet with over $100 million per year. >> thank you. [laughter] >> you are absolutely right about where the bonitos.

there was an interesting instead the one year-ago routinely people under identified that they did not identify as a system. but this on welfare definitely is undeserving and we make it better to get benefits can we fingerprint be'' more spinach having authority said? simic yes. and as a result only half

that of eligible people got food stamps and imagine if we said the same thing to those self proclaimed conservatives that got tax relief if we said the next time if you want your tax relief you have to peek into a cup to prove you are not smoking marijuana. but imagine if we said to see older the person you will not get a social security. it will not fly for:i think set has the benefits. >> going back to the question of of the three. i increase some people are but as you point out with

the 1,000 points of light those that and go into individual or private sector nonprofit religious based action. in order to do what you talk about and what some of us believe is the only way to use salt the issue because somebody has to make a moral case for doing something. i am curious if anybody they think makes the moral argument and whose those people are? >> within the political process? >> within the public's fear. >> i faked a lot of people are making the case but we have not for a massive

headstart component. basically it is a loan for a spread of he who is around to spinner and nobody in academia it is suspending their work did he said we may be partially but is but he was very successful. >> but today there are economists that do nothing and there are think tanks and foundations. age tremendous number of but

susan clearly cares about these two. row will talks about policy all the time for practice to a level of tension of state senators and representatives to try to create but cities are doing creative staff. richmond california recently began a planned for essentials be to reclaim foreclosed houses then sold back at the reduced rate and there are people in the federal government trying to do this. but connecting the dots the holistic approach is there to understand how connected these issues are. in part at a cabinet level this is a totally ignored

the issue. the labor secretary generally thinks of workplace violations. we have environmental but it could deal with major urban environmental issues but there are all kinds of things that could be done with data provided to of education department of a chieftain's but one to have somebody there coordinating and connecting the dots. >> i have heard the name rush limbaugh mentioned a few times today. but yet so one station that

we have been the york to discuss issues like these come with the progressive community has come into use the rescues that almost went under maybe we will survive for maybe not. looked at the entire community both of 1% with all the capital and if we can to save the one channel on the radio where we can securely discuss issues like these and others and to me that is pretty tragic you also said famous scene to be getting worse all the statistics and the data so

what would you say to people who say filming seeing left is class warfare? they are your accusing privy the opponent to be a subject of class warfare. if we cannot use congress were all those systems available to now represent allow a fraction so what is left except that? >> the rhetoric around class warfare i have found strange in this country. the last election there was so whole pattern of comments from conservatives that obama was bringing up clashed long dash class warfare talking about capital gains tax.

it seems bizarre that you talk about marginally increasing the taxes of the wealthiest that is warfare but if you talk about eliminating the system this for concrete children and it is not? it seems it is an undeniable part of the discourse because we are indeed an unequal society so we get squeamish when we talk about it but there is no way that michael bloomberg there is no way that he is middle-class and also. but it seems to me the public discourse is say a little bit bizarre when

there is no choice but class warfare, it seems to be there are all kinds of ways of political discourse in ways to be involved there are different ways to push a political agenda and one that they can discuss the issues of equity but i reluctant to say we will have class warfare i don't think we are but a distinct we have a disingenuous way to talk about it. >> nobody asked may. [laughter] but i think we have been engaged over the last 40 years and we have been losing so somebody should pay attention. [applause] >> i just came from the un

for sustainability. thank you for your good work in them or ethical society in general as will as juvenile rehabilitation. mentioning lay gratian into apathy it is a coalition of mutual to needy a antipathy have a two for rework together? >> is dave black river in do though white rabbi how do we work together for a mutual respect? the york state and the city to be a model for these issues including better education dirty think this is a moment of time with

poverty so there is so much indebted say neglect but today it is not just but it is the middle-class us so much of the developed world with the new economic models the open society with the new investment is its huge debt talks about the needs of economic thinking in political thinking the.

>> my question is we have seen in the 2008 economic crisis we have lost the savings but i wonder have you ever seen in your travels the move from big banks is there a movement among the impoverished communities to more locally controlled entities? >> fed is a really interesting question in. there are movements like that of what but and we do have that community credit union in boston were dealing with very poor neighborhoods and a large number of homeowners had gone under water but you see the effort reemerged community is and the few years back harvard's

law school set up a legal clinic begin to work with the community organization. then they begin working with the creative community union and it was a tremendous success. says sosa had a half a million mortgage survey retaking it to induce site 200,000 will be far less but then to sell it back to the homeowner that goes down then they saw of the profit

sharing agreement and everybody wins. i have seen things like that. and actually i argue that it could be done there is the faith that they could not build the could public housing stock by taking over distressed properties to have them rent the property or buy it back with the rates. if they rent it every month the percentage would be used to rebuild the mortgage a mistake then they could buy the property back. what can be dead around thinking it housing.

i did not speak specifically to that. [laughter] the. >> thank you for your book in your patience but never like to ring gauge about empathy a vicos more deeply say you acknowledge. it is ideological with the myth said the heroic individualism that goes back to the frontier. it was claimed those who'd did it all by themselves. in that has endured a and does a day for those to

subscribe to say you have to do a by yourself. i did it. but it's in that sense if you except that what kinds of solutions might you offer ? >> that is a really interesting question because historically there has been a complicated relationship in america how you deal with poverty does the individual but it is hard wired as a country that this is a country echoes from the vast expanse to create something.

somewhat oversimplified but look at the history throughout american history even though a was a private company say were involved with the transcontinental railroad. look of the subsidization of the giving away into the homesteaders. how do you get beyond the myth of this self-made country? i am a face and of free history the more you realize the complexity. you cannot order people but you can hope that they do.

that is not the problematic response but i could think and hope they talk, -- think were carefully before they talk. >> also with the realm of religious course so many people say they are deep christians one natured to them to say love your neighbor as yourself it you go to hell that could be another approach. thank you. [laughter] >> also thank you to reopen society foundation for the interesting for of. it is good to be here. i want to ask about the notion of relative poverty

and the issues and i work for a foundation that is focused on those foundation issues but a lot of the cohorts speak outside the country's borders we end up getting some strange conversations around needs. i think it could stem from what they want to to night with six every reserves is becoming more scarce, our system only offers regional sources we ended up in a resource constraint environment with a utilitarian approach to solve the issues that if i have $1 it goes farther in pink dash and here in the united states.

their rights be a larger connection to how primitive poverty or prosperity affects your sense of well-being and the ability to route participate of civic discourse with the interesting point of what it takes to be a part of civil society economically speaking. do you have any response? >> this id if i have the dollar is it more effective to spend it somewhere else? i see if that is a false choice. first of all, talking about the government itself, one of the great misperceptions as americans routinely the increase spend more on foreign aid than redo.