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12/7/14

US Economy: A look at poverty in America, from the inside - by Michael Hiltzik

One little-recognized reality of poverty in America is how closely it lurks beneath the surface of even a successful professional life. A bad career turn, a couple of financial missteps, and -- here comes the dizzying plunge from middle class to underclass.

In unbashful detail, McPherson charts his descent from the comfortable middle class to life on Social Security, a meager pension and government antipoverty subsidies. He's not seeking the reader's sympathy, and he's not denying personal responsibility. "I got where I am today through my own efforts," he writes. "I can’t blame anyone else."

It all started in 1987, when he gave up a 25-year career at the Post (interrupted by some leaves of absence and a stint as a book editor), to take up an offer of early retirement at 53. "I was under the illusion — perhaps delusion is the more accurate word — that I could make a living as a writer and the Post offered to keep me on their medical insurance program, which at the time was very good and very cheap," he recounts. But by the time his company pension kicked in 12 years later, inflation had reduced its value by nearly a third.

Read more: A look at poverty in America, from the inside - LA Times

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