Redistributing Wealth
Michael Tubbs believes that children growing up in poverty are as limited in opportunity as the rose in Tupac Shakur鈥檚 poem 鈥淭he Rose That Grew from Concrete.鈥� 鈥淭he issue is that we shouldn鈥檛 be planting roses in concrete and expecting them to grow,鈥� Tubbs said. In 2016, he became the first Black mayor of Stockton, California, and the youngest mayor of any major American city.
Having grown up in poverty, Tubbs said he dedicated his political career to exposing how economic inequalities rob America of hidden intelligence and talent.聽鈥淛ust think about the lost potential鈥攈ow much brilliance we鈥檙e losing and how many of the answers to the problems we鈥檙e facing are probably within somebody who is hungry,鈥� Tubbs said. He is confident that poverty in America can be managed by redistributing small quantities of wealth. 鈥淭he reason why there鈥檚 so much poverty is that there hasn鈥檛 been any sort of regulatory structure that allows for some of the wealth to be redistributed,鈥� Tubbs said.
He said that his time as mayor of Stockton allowed him to responsibly test the effects of redistributing wealth and set the groundwork for other cities.聽鈥淚鈥檓 fascinated by the divide between what we know works and what we do,鈥� Tubbs said. 鈥淎t first, it is important to establish a body of evidence to give other people the courage to try.鈥澛燗fter implementing systems to redistribute wealth in Stockton, Tubbs said that citizens living below the poverty line experienced notable improvements in quality of life. 鈥淲hat we鈥檝e seen is it allows people to transfer from part-time to full-time work,鈥� Tubbs said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the payoff of debt鈥攊t allows people to have a baseline. It鈥檚 hard talking about ceilings, but we can at least talk about the floor.鈥�
Although Tubbs was not reelected as mayor in 2021, he said fluctuations in his political status do not affect his commitment to fighting the poverty crisis in America. 鈥淚 think oftentimes, particularly when you鈥檙e smart and successful and go to great schools, you have a pretty clear point of view about what you鈥檙e willing to win for,鈥� Tubbs said. 鈥淏ut I think the most important question is, 鈥榃hat are you willing to lose for?鈥欌��
In a world with countless opportunities for public service, everyone must look out for their suffering neighbors, Tubbs said. 鈥淚 think no matter what you do, as a citizen, as a beneficiary of acts of service, you have a responsibility to do something,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 let your ability to do anything cause you to do nothing.鈥�
Tubbs encouraged students to take action for the issues they are passionate about while still in college. 鈥淪o much of the work I do now started in dorm rooms,鈥� Tubbs said. 鈥淭he things I read and the conversations I had are the same as those I had as a mayor.鈥�
Adapted from by Elise Kirwin '27