Attitude and the Lower Class

Since Truth in Fiction is a cultural movement, I feel it is important to share culturally relevant information. I believe wisdom is the understanding of connections, especially emotional connections between people. Often emotional involvement in seemingly minor events can significantly alter the results of a logically thought out plan. Emotional baggage is the invisible monster of man-vs.-himself, and is the unseen killer of progress.

A while back, I listened to a talk by Robert L. Dickie, Senior Pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Grand Blanc, MI. In the talk, he shares a quotation by an economist who asserts that the difference between "upper class" people and "lower class" people is simply attitude. I was intrigued by this perspective, and eagerly listened to what he had to say.

"The lower class individual, no matter what his race or color, lives from moment to moment. If he has any awareness of a future, it is something fixed, fated, beyond his control. Things happen to him, he does not make them happen. Impulse governs his behavior, because he cannot discipline himself to sacrifice a present satisfaction for a future satisfaction. He has no sense of the future. Whatever he cannot use immediately, he considers without value.

"His bodily needs, especially for action and pleasure take precedence over anything else, and certainly over any work routine. He works only as he must to stay alive. He drifts from one unskilled job to another, taking to interest in his work. Although his income is usually much lower than that of the working-class individual, the market value of his car, television, household appliances, and playthings is many times considerably more. He is careless with his things, however, and even when they are nearly new, are almost permanently out of order for lack of minor repairs.

"The lower class individual has a poor self image. He suffers from a feeling of self-contempt and inadequacy. He's often apathetic and dejected. In his relations with others, he is suspicious, many times hostile, aggressive, but he's always dependent. He's unable to sustain a stable relationship with a mate. Commonly, he does not marry. He feels no attachment to community, neighbors, or friends. He has companions, not friends. He resents all authority (for example, that of the policemen, social workers, teachers, landlords, and employers), and is apt to think he has been railroaded and want to get even. He is a non-participant. He belongs to no voluntary organizations. He has no political interest, and usually does not vote.

"So long as any city or nation has a sizable lower class, nothing basic can be done about it's most serious problems. Good jobs can be offered to all, but some will remain chronically unemployed. Slums can be demolished, but if the housing that replaces them is occupied by lower-class individuals, it will surely be turned into new slums. Welfare payments can be doubled or tripled and a negative income tax instituted, but some persons will continue to live in squaller and misery. The only thing that will bring people out of that kind of bondage and despair is a new attitude, education, [and] maybe religious regeneration."