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But When Others Suggested That The Poor Should Not Simply Be The Objects Of These Programs But Also The Subjects - That They Should Be Actively Involved In Shaping The Programs, Making Decisions About How To Spend The Money Etc. - Some Of The Previous Supporters Reconsidered.

It Is Because The Fight Against The Harshest Aspects Of Unrestricted Capitalism Is Therefore A Political Problem And Not An Intellectual One That Community Action Remains So Essential.

You Know, When I Was In College, There Was A Big Debate: Do Unions Raise Wages? Well, With Regard To Industrial Unions, There Were Arguments Back And Forth -- International Competition. It Is Now Clear, I Think, That Whether Or Not You Think Unions Raised Wages 50 Years Ago, The Absence Of Unions And Their Weakness That Is Inflicted By Anti-union Public Policy Depresses Wages. The Fact Is That People Who Are Not Represented, In The Service Industries In Particular, Are The Victims Of Policies Which Depress Their Wages.

Trying To Avert Foreclosures, Once You Can't Just Force The Banks To Do It As A Condition Of Getting Aid, Means That You Have To Put Some Public Money Into It Or You Have To Do Other Things That Are Politically Unpopular. From The Macroeconomic Standpoint There Is Overwhelming Need To Help People Reduce What They Owe So That We Don't Get The Foreclosures And We Don't Get People Kicked Out Of Their Homes. On The Other Hand, There Is Great Resistance Politically To Helping People, Not All Of Whom Would Be Worth Recipients Of The Help.

Community Action Is As Valuable A Principle On The International Level As It Has Been Domestically.