In December 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor classified 12.2 million persons as officially unemployed. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Almost 8 million folks were working part time involuntarily and another 6.8 million had simply stopped looking for work. Neither of these latter two groups--almost 27 million people--is included in the official count of the unemployed released on the first Friday of every month. Statistics like these almost make you want to throw your hands up and scream, "There's no way out!"
But in A Way Out of No Way: The Economic Prerequisites of the Beloved Community, Michael Greene argues that's the last thing we ought to do. Rather than sink into a deep hole of hopelessness, the author contends that we should return to the economic thought of Martin Luther King Jr. and to the conception of full employment that constitutes the economic bedrock of his Beloved Community. Greene contends that the full employment/right-to-work agenda that King fought and died for is exactly what's needed to put an end to the twin problems of involuntary joblessness and poverty. What's more, and contrary to popular opinion, Greene argues that realizing King's full employment/right-to-work agenda is fiscally feasible and can even be done without appreciably adding to the nation's debt. More generally, the author contends that a King-like response to joblessness and poverty is a route that leads to "a way out of no way."
Michael Greene is an ordained clergyperson in the United Methodist Church and lead pastor at Highland Hills United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas. He has taught at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, Hollins College, Paul Quinn College, and the University of North Texas. Dr. Greene holds doctorates in economics and religious ethics. His work has appeared in numerous academic journals, including The Review of Black Political Economy, The Journal of Socio-Economics, and Economic Letters.
"At last! Beyond celebrating King's dream of civil rights, here is a critical and constructive analysis of King's call for economic rights. Michael Greene has a PhD in religious ethics, and another PhD in economics. Accordingly, Greene links King's theological ethics to King's economic prescriptions for 'the total, direct, and immediate abolition of poverty.' For the first time, a religious-ethicist-economist, in dialogue with the work of other economists, seriously considers King's economic prescriptions."
--Theodore Walker Jr., Associate Professor of Ethics and Society, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
"With a keen sense of economics and ethics, Greene has produced a text that resurrects, fleshes out, and systematizes King's Beloved Community for the twenty-first century!"
--Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas, Associate Professor of Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
"Greene pushes aside the false choices that prevail in current economic justice debates. . . . He rescues us from our current dead ends and our loss of confidence in pragmatic progressive change. This work is a must-read for noneconomists who still strive for King's Beloved Community. We shall overcome, and Greene shows us how."
--Darryl M. Trimiew, past president of the Society of Christian Ethics