Movies - The Other America

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	Movies - The Other America

Michael Harrington’s book The Other America (ISBN 068482678X) was a groundbreaking study of poverty in the United States, published in 1962. Harrington described a "new American poverty" in his work. Read by President John F. Kennedy, it was probably the driving force behind the "war on poverty." The Boston Globe editorialized that Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps and expanded social security benefits were traceable to Harrington’s ideas. Harrington became the pre-eminent spokesman for socialism in America.

Documentary film

The documentary film The Other America captured the essence of Harrington’s ideas through the use of archival footage and interviews with his colleagues and opponents. Over thirty interviews were filmed, including:

John Kenneth Galbraith
Gloria Steinem
William F. Buckley
Charles Murray
as well as ordinary people who struggle to make a living, or are dependent on social services.

The documentary included a brief history of socialism in America, and raised questions concerning

the merits and relevance of unions today
the problems of migrant workers, farmers, and inner cities,
and the American health care system.

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