Edwards is out.

I think he waged an important and worthy campaign. The former senator played a defining role in the Democratic Party over the past year, by setting the agenda that others followed on issues like health care and the Iraq War, and by shining much-needed light on the fact that one in eight people live in poverty in the world’s richest country. (Full disclosure: Edwards wrote the foreword to my book, so I’m biased. But I voted for the guy in the 2004 primary, too, so I’ve been biased for a long time.)

Speaking of bias, this article talks about how Edwards’ decision to end his presidential campaign may have been influenced by the "antsiness" of "several major contributors," who wanted to line up behind Clinton or Obama. There’s nothing wrong about listening to your supporters, of course. But it made me wonder how much say these "major contributors" have over presidential (or any) candidates, even those brave souls trying to reform the system. How much do they call the shots regarding whether you run, how you run, whether you stop running — and, for that matter, what you do when you get in office? Perhaps what we really need to focus on is another signature theme of the Edwards campaign: reining in the influence of money in politics.

For more on that, you might want to check out this book Free Lunch, which has interesting things to say about the ways that monied interests are corrupting our political system, and generally screwing over everyone.

Update: I also need to mention that I was a contributor to Edwards’ campaign, but not a "major contributor" — more like a "random guy on the Internet" contributor. Now excuse me while I line up behind Obama.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

I’m jealous of all those people with HBO who can watch the final season of The Wire. According to many critics, it’s one of the best TV shows of all time. At its most basic, The Wire is about drug gangs in Baltimore and the cops who chase (or fail to chase) them, but really the show is much broader in its ambitions, managing the remarkable feat of both empathizing deeply with the struggles of each and very character and understanding deeply the institutions that shape and limit those individuals.

Recently I watched the fourth season on DVD. The storyline centered around four boys who clearly could accomplish great things if they were growing up in a more nurturing environment. You look at Randy’s entrepreneurial skills, Duquan and Namond’s intelligence, and Michael’s heart, and then you wonder what might have been if those talents had not been beaten down by the streets or (in Michael’s case) diverted to criminality. This is a running theme in the entire show: The indisputable organizational and entrepreneurial genius that the drug kingpins (above all, Stringer Bell) show could have brought about so much good in society, but instead leads to more sickness and squandering of talent. 

This is what The Wire shows us: the incredible waste — economic, social, and moral — that results from this tangled knot of poverty and criminality, and our collective failure to do anything about it.

Do yourself a favor and catch The Wire on HBO or on DVD. Did I mention it’s hilarious, too? It’s like Greek tragedy with jokes.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Here’s a link to an interesting interview on Foreign Exchange about peacemaking in Uganda. For more than a decade Betty Bigombe has been trying to broker a peace agreement between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army, an insurgent group that has allegedly perpetrated a wide range of human rights abuses in its pursuit of power, including the forced recruitment of child soldiers and child sex slaves. LRA leader Joseph Kony, who believes he speaks directly to God and who has fathered more than 200 children during the war, is seeking to establish a theocratic regime in Uganda, one that literally enforces the Ten Commandments of the Christian Bible. (Here is another reminder that every great religion can be perverted into a compassionless creed of conquest and atrocity.)

Bigombe describes the tedious and morally uneasy process of peacemaking, especially when it involves a leader, such as Kony, with so much blood and suffering on his hands. While Bigombe saw him as a "monster" for his atrocities, she sought to understand what made him do what he did. She also began to appreciate how self-interest — at times more than ideology — drives peace negotiations, in that all rebel leaders want to protect themselves from punishment or vengeance once they put down their weapons.

Here’s what Bigombe has to say about the challenges of peacemaking: 

It takes a lot of patience. But it takes a lot of listening. Even the devil wants to be listened to. Because they totally believe they have reasons to fight. It also takes personal risks. My approach [is] … don’t put time limits to these issues and these problems …. Because when you are trying to get people who have been killing one another, to start looking at one another differently, and in some cases even coexist, it takes time. Because what is going on in their mind is "We’ve been enemies for so many years, can I start trusting so-and-so?" It’s also my perception, my conviction, because I’ve been at this for quite some time, that over a period of time, when people are given a chance, they can change, they can reform.

You can see the interview here. It starts at the 15-minute mark.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Unfortunately, the interview scheduled for today on the Brian Lehrer Show was canceled (we got bumped by the governor). I’ll let you know if they’re able to reschedule it. In the meantime, here’s a link to a YouTube clip of my coauthor and I speaking at the New America Foundation last month (embedded video after jump), and here’s a link to a Bill Moyers Journal blog post about my coauthor’s interview with Moyers earlier this month.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Katherine S. Newman, a Princeton sociologist and my coauthor, will be discussing our book The Missing Class: Portaits of the Near Poor in America on the next edition of Bill Moyers Journal. The show is broadcast at 9 p.m. tonight on most PBS stations.

Also, Newman and I will be appearing on the Brian Lehrer Show, a radio program on New York’s WNYC station, on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 11:06-11:40 a.m. It’s a live studio interview with call-ins.

As for upcoming events, Newman and I will be doing a book reading in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the First Parish Church on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. The address is 3 Church Street, which is adjacent to Harvard Yard.

I’ll be doing a book reading at Manhattan’s New York Public Library on Monday, Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. The address is 455 Fifth Avenue (at 40th St.), across the street from the central research library.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Here’s a link to a Marketplace interview with my coauthor, and here’s a link to a recent column by New York Times columnist Bob Herbert that mentions our book.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

AlterNet published an excerpt of my book, The Missing Class, and here is a link to a radio interview I did last week on "Sound Off With Sasha," a news program on an NPR affiliate in Southwest Florida.

The Nation has an interview with my co-author, Katherine S. Newman, regarding the book. 

An updated list of interviews and book readings follows.

RADIO/TV INTERVIEWS

The Progressive Forum on KPFT-FM (Pacifica Houston). Thursday, Sept. 13, 8–8:30 p.m. Eastern, 7–7:30 p.m. Central. This interview will be live.

The Exchange (New Hampshire Public Radio). Tuesday, Sept. 18, 9–10 a.m. This interview will be live.

Marketplace (American Public Media). Tuesday, Sept. 18, 11-11:20 a.m. This interview will be taped with air date to come.

Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC (NPR New York). Tuesday, Sept. 18, 12-12:40 p.m.

Tavis Smiley Show (PRI). I’m not sure about the broadcast date. This interview will be taped on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 11:30–11:45 a.m.

Late Mornings on KVON Radio (Napa, Calif.). Monday, Sept. 24, 11:30 a.m. Eastern, 8:30 a.m. Pacific. This interview will be live.

Joy Cardin Show on Wisconsin Public Radio. Wednesday, Sept. 26, 9-10 a.m. Eastern, 8-9 a.m. Pacific. This interview will be live with call-ins.

Radio Times on WHYY Radio (NPR Philadelphia). Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10–11 a.m. This interview will be live.

Bob Edwards Show on XM Satellite Radio. I’m not sure about the broadcast date. This interview will be taped in studio on Monday, Oct. 1, 9-9:45 a.m.

Diane Rehm Show on WAMU Radio (National NPR). This interview will be live with call-ins and will be syndicated to 100 public radio stations across the country. Monday, Oct. 1, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.

To the Contrary on PBS. Broadcast dates will vary. The interview will be taped on Monday, Oct. 1, 3-3:30 p.m.

Midmorning with Kerri Miller (Minnesota Public Radio). Wednesday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Eastern, 10-11 a.m. Central. This interview will be live with call-ins. 

ARCHIVED INTERVIEWS 

Thom Hartmann Show on KPOJ Radio (Portland, Ore.). Wednesday, Aug. 29, 10-10:15 a.m. Eastern, 7-7:15 a.m. Pacific. Here is the archive of the interview.

Sound Off With Sasha on WGCU/WMKO-FM (public radio, Southwest Florida). Friday, Sept. 7, 2-2:30 p.m. Here is an archive of the interview.

BOOK READINGS

Washington D.C., Monday, Oct. 1, 12:30-2 p.m.: The New America Foundation/Workforce and Family Program, 1630 Connecticut Ave NW, 7th Floor.

Cambridge, Mass., Friday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m.: Harvard Coop Bookstore, 1400 Massachusetts Ave., reading and signing.

Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.: Cambridge Forum, First Parish (Unitarian Universalist), 3 Church Street.

New York City, Monday, Dec. 10, 6:30 p.m.: New York Public Library, 455 Fifth Avenue, across the street from central research library.

PRINT ARTICLES

AlterNet.org: Excerpt (September 6, 2007)

The Nation: Interview (August 13, 2007 issue)

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

NOTE: You can find The Missing Class at your bookstore, or order it on Amazon or Powells.com. (Use these links and a portion of the sale price goes to InTheFray.)

Sorry that I’ve been away from this blog for so long. One of the reasons for the delay is that the book I co-authored — The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America — has just come out. The New York Times mentions the book in Sunday’s edition.

I co-authored The Missing Class with Princeton sociologist Katherine S. Newman. Senator John Edwards wrote the foreword. The book focuses on the nearly one in five Americans who live just above the poverty line, a population much larger than those living in poverty. They work long hours, sometimes at multiple jobs, but they do not receive many public benefits (which are for the poor) and lack real financial security. In fact, some of the families we write about eventually fell back into poverty after a layoff, divorce, illness, or other crisis.

My hope is that through the stories of the nine families profiled in this book, we can bring more attention to this ignored population and inspire discussion about policies that could keep these hard-working Americans from slipping back down the economic ladder. Poverty takes a toll not just on the families who suffer it, but also on society in general, which must bear the collective costs in ruined health, growing crime, blighted neighborhoods, and wasted potential. We should be doing more to help these families avoid such a fate.

There will be some book events and radio/TV interviews in the coming months. Please check this blog (inthefray.org/politicalprose) for the latest schedule. And please spread the word!

UPDATED 9/26/07: Please see more recent posts for an updated schedule.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Today I was lying on the beach and trying to bring some color to my academic's cadaverous complexion. It was a little muggy, and there were sand fleas hopping about, which made me think: What would it be like to live in a climate where heat and bugs weren't just summertime annoyances, but a way of life?

I've been reading The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, by historian David S. Landes, and he says some interesting things about how a tropical climate has made it much harder for countries to prosper. (This is a topic that economists such as Jeffrey Sachs have studied as well.) Climate is just one of the factors that shapes a country's development, but it is an important one. In cold weather, you can put on additional clothing or build shelter or start a fire. But hot temperatures make it much harder to work, and there's little to be done about it. This is part of the reason that some societies in tropical climates turned to slavery to solve their labor shortages, Landes says (if you don't want to work, force someone else to do it for you — and while you're at it, get a few servants to fan you with fronds). The American South achieved prosperity only after air conditioning became widespread in the period following World War II. In much of the tropics today, air conditioning is simply unaffordable for most people, who don't have sufficient electricity or consistent access to it.

Then there's the matter of bugs. Winters, for all the inconveniences they cause in temperate climates of unshoveled driveways, turtleneck sweaters, and bad poetry, also perform a crucial service by killing the resident population of critters and halting their spread. In earlier centuries, the fiercely multiplying masses of insects in winterless tropical countries made agriculture almost impossible, killing off workers or making them too sick to toil in the fields. Advances in tropical medicine have saved lives, but the toll of insect-borne diseases still handicaps many societies and their economies. Malaria kills thousands every day.

So there's another side to climate change besides rising sea levels and lands transformed into deserts. There's also the fact that rising temperatures will grow the various populations of insects, parasites, and pests that already cause so much death and illness in tropical countries. These critters will also become more common in temperate climates, too. If you hate bugs as much as I do, you might have another reason to jump on the environmental bandwagon.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

The Cats of Mirikitani will be on New York's Channel 13 tonight at 10 p.m. (and perhaps other PBS stations as well). As I said in my review, it's definitely worth seeing.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

If you're in Chicago, you should check out the latest production of David Henry Hwang's The Golden Child. This Obie Award-winning play, loosely based on the experiences of the playwright's own family in turn-of-the-century China, recounts the fateful decision of a village patriarch to turn from Chinese traditions and embrace Western, Christian ways. Seeing it reminded me of Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, set in colonial-era Nigeria. In telling their stories of cultural change, neither work romanticizes the past or its dying traditions. In fact, certain practices — foot-binding in the Chinese context, abandoning children in the Nigerian one — come up for especially harsh criticism, put forward as immoral and destructive outgrowths of unthinking adherence to old ways. At the same time, both works describe in tragic detail the consequences of upending an age-old social order, and the price paid by all — powerful and powerless alike. The eponymous "golden child," in fact, who escapes foot-binding thanks to her father's intervention, nonetheless learns to rue her mother's words: "Daughter, you don't know what a terrible gift is freedom."

Fortunately, Hwang's play offers plentiful comedic interludes to soften its Lear-like final blow, and the strong Chicago cast succeeds in making each character believable and sympathetic — even the conniving second wife, played with delightful malevolence by InTheFray Contributor Kimberlee Soo.

The company responsible for this production, Silk Road Theatre Project, has made crosscultural understanding its mission; founded in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, Silk Road seeks to "heal rifts through the transformative power of theatre." The choice of Hwang's play seems appropriate, speaking as it does to all-too-current events. The violent divide between tradition and modernity, order and progress, fundamentalism and reason — these conflicts continue to confront us, just as they did in an earlier time, and their resolution will likely be no kinder.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen