In Life at the Bottom, Dalrymple is suggesting that the description of the poor is changing and that using poverty and hunger can no longer fully cover all of the lower class. That new characteristics have risen, that many of the lower class have adopted. That those that are violent, those that have agonies and emptiness, and those that have horrid morals are now the way to depict the lower class. Dalrymple also argues that in order to rise out of the underclass that family ties are needed and without it there is hardly any way to do so. Dalrymple says that many of the issues that plague the underclass comes from a bourgeoisie society, that this upper class of liberals are feeding and fueling all of the problems and mentality that are taken on by the underclass.
Some of the points that where stated by Dalrymple can in fact be transitioned towards the United States in today’s economy. Violence is something that is talked about a lot in the book, from abusive men, criminals, and organized group violence. Some of these sectors of violence can be a contributing factor into the United States underclass while others do not fit. They will be talked about later in this essay though. Criminals and organized group violence or gangs have been around for many years, but as of late in America it has been on a steady climb. Where in some aspects gangs and crime are glorified and upheld as a standard for younger people to look up to and one day possibly aim for. Does not matter if it is joining a gang, running a drug and illegal weapons ring, or even as simple as stealing. These examples have held down the underclass in America they are constantly present and sometimes are unavoidable. For example, if a gang has control over a selected area where they control the drugs and weapons that are on the street and people are too afraid to take action against them, then this gang will continue to induct new members and slow grow until they look for a new area to control. This could lead to gang wars and senseless killing in the streets and no other place knows this better than Chicago, Illinois. Chicago has the highest gang population in the United States (www.huffingtonpost.com) and the highest amount of gun related murders to boot. As an effect of these crimes, many of the targets are not the rich and the powerful but instead are the weak and the poor. Those that cannot defend themselves to a great extent, they are seen as easy targets that will soon give up if it has taken too long to find the culprits. Since the underclass is the primary target for crime from the underclass it is like they are just undermining themselves in order to gain some type or upper hand on the next man that holds no real bearing. Even when taking “good moral” individuals some have turned to crime because they see no other way to make means for themselves or their loved ones. Some of these people have been laid off and have no other source of income, their back is against a wall and they...
