In “From Underclass to Entrepreneur: New Technologies of Poverty Work in Urban America,” Michael B. Katz describes what the “underclass” was, the approaches to helping it, and how it has evolved. The chapter made me think about the different views of the poor and the ways of responding to their needs.
Katz describes the underclass as a class of people, who are mostly young and minorities, defined by drugs, crime, teenage pregnancy, and high unemployment. It typically referred to black poor people living in inner cities. The concept related to the distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor.
One topic that Katz explains in the reading is the division of poor people into categories. Katz explains that this has historically been these types of distinctions have been made to determine how to distribute scarce resources to those in need. However, the categorization of poor people has also been used for moral judgment. These categories are used to determine who deserves aid and who does not. I believe that it is necessary to categorize the poor in order to provide aid that will be most beneficial. For example, the distinction between people who cannot work because they are disabled and people who can work but are unable to find a job at the moment is very important for determining how to help these people. People in both categories should be treated as equally deserving of help but the distinction makes it clear that, in the long term, those in the second category will need jobs. This means that there should be policies and aid geared toward making sure there are jobs available. Without understanding the different categories of the poor, it isn’t possible to understand how to help them. In my example, without the distinction between the two categories resources and policies might have focused on providing the poor with aid that satisfies their needs at the moment, which wouldn’t help the second category in the long term. Even worse, resources and policies might have focused on bringing more jobs to the area, which would be of little help to the first category, who couldn’t work anyway. I believe the approaches to categorization of the poor are often flawed but the concept can be positive.
The main topic of Katz’s chapter is how the idea of the underclass has, over time, been replaced with the idea of the poor as a source of “entrepreneurial energy and talent.” I think this can be both a positive and a negative. This view of the poor encourages investment in poor people who have the ideas and talent that can improve their lives. On the other hand, this view of the poor does little to encourage aid for people who are unable to help themselves with investment.
I thought the reading was insightful. Katz gave good descriptions and examples of attitudes towards the poor and methods of helping them. It made me think about the different ways of helping people in need and how these methods and attitudes can be improved.
