Subversive resources

For those bemoaning the NYTimes' decision to make its columnists available only to paid subscribers (starting yesterday), one avenue of work-around may be this Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive, which has transcripts of his public appearances and some kind of mirror of his biweekly columns (at least, until the Times hunts them down). Of course, you have to remember to drop by there...

(via Booknotes)

Update: actually, his column from yesterday addresses the same issues that Jeanne covered (here) about racism and American views of class and poverty.

And who can honestly deny that race is a major reason America treats its poor more harshly than any other advanced country? To put it crudely: a middle-class European, thinking about the poor, says to himself, "There but for the grace of God go I." A middle-class American is all too likely to think, perhaps without admitting it to himself, "Why should I be taxed to support those people?"

Above all, race-based hostility to the idea of helping the poor created an environment in which a political movement hostile to government aid in general could flourish.

He's pessimistic that things will change, at least not until the burdens on the poor (such as the poor distribution of health care in our country) start to bother the middle class as well . . .