Publication Day

I’ve had May 28 marked on my calendar for months. Today my publisher, Bloomsbury, has released my book, Poverty Abolitionists. This blog post tells the story of how this book came about and what I hope it will achieve. 

When I retired from Bread for the World in 2020, I worked hard to stay engaged in advocacy—helping Bread with fundraising and leading the Circle of Protection. The Circle coalition played an important role in passing Biden’s first-year legislation, which succeeded in reducing child poverty in the midst of the pandemic.

I also taught graduate students—at Berkeley, then New York, then Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS). Teaching about the politics of poverty helped me learn more about anti-poverty strategies other than legislative advocacy—such as community organizing and electoral politics. I invited leaders of different types of anti-poverty organizations to speak to my classes. 

Starting toward the end of 2023, I carved out time to work on a book. Several VTS seminarians helped me with research. Most of my previous books had been handled by religious publishers.  This time I aimed for a commercial publisher to reach a broader audience. I learned about the key role of literary agents in commercial publishing. They work with aspiring authors and pick a few to recommend to publishers. Two agents considered my book proposal and turned it down. But in the process, they helped me improve it. They pushed me to analyze my proposal from a marketing and sales perspective. Thinking about my book from the perspective of people who might buy and read it made it better.

Toward the end of 2024, an agent named Don Pape agreed to represent my book. He sent my book proposal to about 20 publishers all at once. Two accepted it, including the U.S. branch of Bloomsbury Publishing.  Bloomsbury is an international, commercially successful publisher. My acquiring editor was Richard Brown. He made several very helpful suggestions that improved the book substantially.  One was to strengthen its appeal to younger readers. I also want to mention Robin Stephenson, who has helped me with research, editing, and social media, including this newsletter.   

I was able to make revisions until nearly the end of the first year of the current Trump administration. President Trump and MAGA came to power with well-developed plans. With alarming speed, he and his colleagues attacked an array of programs and policies that are important to people in poverty. They dismantled USAID, cut $1.2 trillion from domestic food and health assistance, launched a brutal program of mass deportation, worked against civil rights and voting rights, and imposed a new and shifting regime of tariffs. Trump strained the legal limits of presidential authority, with a Republican Congress and conservative Supreme Court often condoning his actions.

In February 2026, the US and Israel attacked Iran.  War in the Middle East has killed more than 7,000 people.  It has also caused a massive increase of extreme hunger.

After decades of progress against poverty, MAGA is now increasing hunger and poverty in our country and around the world. Pushing back against MAGA, including the election of more Democrats, is crucial to renewed progress against poverty.  

Since finishing the manuscript, I’ve been focused on encouraging pre-publication orders and promoting key messages from the book among a wider audience.  Bread for the World, the Alliance to End Hunger, Virginia Theological Seminary, the World Food Prize Foundation, Interfaith 20, and Fortier Public Relations are all helping with this work.  I’ve also been supported by Rick Steves, Eleanor Crook, Chang Park, Fred and Jeanne Groos, Terry Meehan, Maureen O’Leary, and other friends.  I’m planning to continue speaking and writing on these issues over the coming year.

I pray that Poverty Abolitionists encourages and empowers a surge of activism, and that God delivers our country and the world from the evils that confront us now.

What I’ve Learned About Elections

The most urgent chapter of my forthcoming book, Poverty Abolitionists, is about elections.  

I worked in a bipartisan way for most of my life. When I made political contributions, I divided them between Republicans and Democrats who worked with Bread for the World.

But even if you are an Independent or a Republican—if you care about poverty, climate change, or democracy, it now makes sense to vote for Democrats. It’s crucial that the minority party win control of one or both houses of Congress. I don’t see any other way to constrain our rogue president whose policies are increasing hardship for poor people everywhere .  

We need to give time, money, and votes to candidates and party organizations. It’s important to vote, of course. It’s also important to give time and attention to what’s happening in our country. Time spent stressing and complaining about how bad things are doesn’t change anything. But we can have an impact if we stay informed, engage in thoughtful discussions about current issues with others (including people who disagree), and help to get out the vote among family and neighbors. Only 5 percent of American adults volunteer for a political candidate, but volunteering—door-to-door canvassing, for example—helps win elections.  

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My most controversial election-related recommendation is also the most important: We should make financial contributions to influence politics. According to Federal Election Commission data, only 2 percent of Americans give more than $100 a year to candidates, PACs, or parties. So we leave it to a relatively small group of mostly wealthy people to finance the process by which we decide who governs us. That results in government favoritism toward wealthy people.

Thanks mainly to mega-contributors to President Trump’s PAC, Republicans now have much more money stockpiled than Democrats do. The New York Times reports that Trump’s donors have given nearly $2 billion since his election, with half of them clearly benefiting from decisions he has made. 

Some people feel that billionaire donors in politics make political giving by people of modest means useless. But total giving to charities is roughly 100 times political giving. Yet many people of modest means contribute to charities. Our dollars allow our favorite charities to do more, and political campaigns also need money.

You may hesitate because you aren’t sure how to make your political giving effective. I give to politicians who represent my state and district. I’ve found that it improves my access for legislative advocacy. I also give to congressional candidates from other states who are in close races or are leaders on poverty issues. 

Giving to party committees is another effective way to impact election outcomes. The Democratic Congressional Coordinating Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign  Committee direct their resources to the races most likely to elect Democrats to the House and Senate respectively. The Democratic National Committee directs resources to activities that are most likely to strengthen the party.  

You may feel discouraged, especially now that Republicans are winning the gerrymandering war. But Donald Trump has become an unpopular president. Republicans hold only a three-seat majority in the House of Representatives. During Trump’s first midterm election in 2018, House Democrats flipped 40 seats. To take control this fall, they only need to flip half that number.  There is more opportunity to influence the direction of the country than many people realize.

Imagine if the people reading my newsletter or blog would give at least one percent of their income to elections this year when so much is at stake. Together we would have a significant impact.

I’m also urging churches and other religious communities to do more than they have done in the past to influence the outcome of elections. To be eligible for tax-deductible contributions, churches can’t endorse candidates or parties. But they can certainly speak about the misuse and corruption of religion for political purposes—Christian nationalism, for example, or war in the name of Jesus. They can teach about the ethical and religious values that underlie current political debate—notably, the engineered increase in hunger and poverty. They can organize civil discussions among people who disagree. They can promote voter registration, get out the vote drives, and poll chaplaincies at voting sites where vulnerable people may be subjected to intimidation. 

The ethical values of our nation are at stake in the elections of 2026 and 2028. Churches and other religious communities have a responsibility to help their people reflect on what God wants our society to be. A shift in how religious people vote could change the positions and behavior of both parties for the better.

Are You a Poverty Abolitionist?

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f23f10_974931a7a7af433196f32f64a82116df/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

I have spent my life dedicated to ending poverty, and during my lifetime we have made great strides in that effort.

The fraction of the world’s population in extreme poverty dropped from about four in ten in 1990 to one in ten in 2024. The fraction of Americans below the US Census Bureau’s best measure of poverty dropped from three in ten in 1967 to about one in ten in 2024.

These numbers reflect what can happen when governments make good decisions, leaders stay focused, and people organize to push for change.

But that progress has stopped. This is partly because of the Trump administration. In Poverty Abolitionists, I write about ten effective ways we can push back against MAGA and get progress against poverty going again.

I hope you will pre-order the book and join me in this effort. And I’m hoping you or your organization will amplify my promo video (shown above) on social media so that this important message—ending poverty is possible—reaches more people. My hope is that the book’s message will inspire more people to take action and get progress going again. But first they need to hear about it.

You can either share the video I have already posted on my Facebook, LinkedIn, or Bluesky. Or download the video, with captions, on Dropbox.