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The article seems to confirm the idea that we can't improve the life of the underclass, we can only shrink the underclass by moving people out of it. Unfortuna
by dkarl 16y ago
The article seems to confirm the idea that we can't improve the life of the underclass, we can only shrink the underclass by moving people out of it. Unfortunately, not many people who are magically plucked out of their culture and society (via scholarships or employment) can bear to alienate themselves from their roots forever, so that isn't a solution, either. Even if we consistently skim off the exceptional individuals who are capable of handling that kind of dislocation, the underclass will sustain itself.
Personally, I think the solution is to provide a minimum guaranteed standard of living, no questions asked, no silly ragged patchwork quilt of programs, just a minimum standard of living. Not enough to remove the stigma of poverty -- we don't want people to be comfortable or satisfied on the dole -- just enough to make it worthwhile for people to invest in themselves and avoid anti-social behavior.
What we will then discover is whether an absolute level economic subsistence can transform behavior, or whether it is the stigma of relative poverty that causes people to behave antisocially.
- runT1ME 16y agoI agree with everything you say, but the problem is, what is the minimum standard without people being comfortable? Unfortunately, I know more than a couple in my family who despite having an iPhone and big screen TV, also have declared bankruptcy a few times, and will go on food stamps at times.
- henrikschroder 16y agoBelonging to the working class or underclass means not only that you lack the money and resources of the classes above you, it also means that you have a completely different outlook on life. What you suggest would take generations before you get any real results.
- yungchin 16y agoYes, intuitively I'd also expect it to take many generations. But the article's examples - Sweden, Japan (both effects established post-WWII I suppose), the North Carolina district (1990s!) - surprisingly suggest otherwise.
- henrikschroder 16y agoThere is still a substantial working class in Sweden, and although the income gap between the social classes is much lower here than elsewhere, the different mindsets are the same as everywhere. I have friends that are working class through and through, even though some of them make about as much money as I do. It's not about standard of living. In my own case, I can thank our free university system for helping me drag myself from middle class to upper middle class, but then again I started with the middle class sentiment that education is always good. If you're working class, everyone in your environment will tell you that university is a huge waste of time, and I don't know how to address that. Throwing money at it won't do anything.