The Economist - UK (2019-06-01)

76 The EconomistJune 1st 2019

1

E

ightyearsagoChrisArnade,a phys-

icistturnedWallStreettrader,ventured

uptoHuntsPoint,a roughandisolatedsec-

tionoftheSouthBronx,armedwithcurios-

ityanda camera.A habitualwalker,MrAr-

nade had begunto feel asort of moral

restlessnessinthewakeofthefinancial

crisis.Inhisview,hisindustrywasrespon-

siblefor—yetlargelyinsulatedfrom—the

effectsoftherecession.

Herealisedthatheknewfartoolittle

about the many Americans who were much

poorer than his social circle. So, in the

Bronx,hebegantalkingtopeople and pho-

tographingthem. What he encountered

“wasn’twhatI wastoldI would find—it was

welcoming,warmandbeautiful, not emp-

ty, dangerous and ugly.” Thus began a

150,000-mile,multi-yearjourney through

unthriving America—urban and rural,

blackandwhite,fromLewiston, Maine, to

Bakersfield,California, with many way-

points inbetween—that Mr Arnade has

woveninto“Dignity”,hisdeeply empathet-

ic book. A few of the pictures he took on his

travels appear on this and the next page.

“Dignity” is “about” inequality in much

the same way that James Agee’s “Let Us

Now Praise Famous Men”—a seminal

study of tenant farmers in Alabama, illus-

trated with stark photographs by Walker

Evans—was “about” the Great Depression.

Both works illuminate the reality of politi-

cal and economic forces that might seem

familiar in outline, by showing their ef-

fects on ordinary people.

Mr Arnade offers a handy framework for

thinking about inequality. People like him

are “akin to the kids who sat in the front

row”—strivers eager to learn and achieve.

Front-row people believe in science, data

and progress. They cluster in big cities, of-

Inequality

Thelisteningcure

AWallStreettrader’sphotographicjourneytoneglectedpartsofAmerica

Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row

America.By Chris Arnade. Sentinel; 304

pages; $30 and £25

Books & arts

78 A novelofsurrogacy

78 ThelifeofSaladin

79 Saudi television

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