John Bouman
The Reformer
Changing the system from inside it, principle turned into change.
John Bouman is a dedicated advocate for social justice, particularly in addressing poverty and the collateral consequences of criminal convictions. This interview highlights his commitment to reforming systems to ensure fairness and opportunity for marginalized communities.
“Yeah. And yeah, and it was. It was the speech not only announcing the war on poverty but announcing the intent that he made good on to actually pass the Civil Rights Act.”
“Well, so, for example, under AFDC, if you got a job, you would almost immediately get cut off of assistance because you had your income was higher than the assistance.”
“Yeah, they came. My name spelled funny because they came from a part of Germany that's across a river from Holland. And we were there last April. My wife and I were there visiting our daughter who was in Europe for a year. And we saw the farm, my grandfather grew up on before he came here in 1890. And there's this hill with sheep on it.”
“So it was a caricature, although like anything, you can find examples of it, right? So Reagan had his welfare queen. She was a real person. Actually from around here or did a lot of her queening around here. But that was a hot caricature that didn't describe the whole population.”
The Axe Files with David Axelrod — Ep. 207 - John Bouman
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