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 Communitya,, 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."

本書は、キング牧師が掲げた「愛の共同体」の背後にある、峻烈かつ情熱的な経済思想に光を当てた一冊です。単なる歴史的再考ではなく、現代の過酷な失業問題に対し、経済的権利こそが人間尊厳の砦であることを力強く説いています。統計の裏にある個人の苦悩を救い出すための、深い哲学に裏打ちされた経済論は圧巻です。 著者のマイケル・グリーンは、キングの夢を現代社会で実現可能な「希望の設計図」として見事に再定義しました。出口のない暗闇に灯をともすような知的な筆致は、読者に不可能を可能に変える勇気を授けてくれます。混迷を極める現代を生き抜くための道標として、これほど情熱的で説得力に満ちた指針は他にありません。