“Working on behalf of the common good is the engine of democracy, vital to our communities, cities, states—and, ultimately, the nation. It is “an outflow of the idealism and moralism of the American people,” wrote Gunnar Myrdal.3 Some have called… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
I have always been really troubled by the amount of poverty in America. Americans are matched in their rich democracy with the depth and expanse of poverty. That's really always unsettled me. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
If we continue to tolerate this level of poverty in our cities, and go along with eviction as commonplace in poor neighborhoods, it's not… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
You see one eviction, and you're overcome, but then there's another one and another one and another one. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
When I talk to booksellers, they tell me how hard it is to hand-sell some of my books because I do keep popping around. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
Housing being a top-order issue for cities is something that's not trivial. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
I think that we value fairness in this country. We value equal opportunity. Without a stable home, those ideals really fall apart. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
Exploitation. Now, there's a word that has been scrubbed out of the poverty debate. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
I think there are ways that graduate students can fact-check their work. I think there are ways that we can do this that don't… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
Fire itself is very beautiful, and there's an attachment to fire that firefighters have. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
“Sherrena nodded reassuringly and said, almost to herself, “I guess I got to stop feeling sorry for these people because nobody is feeling sorry… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
Everywhere else, we are someone else, but at home, we remove our masks. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
A community that sees so clearly its own disadvantage or its own hardships also has a harder time seeing its potential: its ability to… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
