In “From Underclass to Entrepreneur: New Technologies of Poverty Work in Urban America,” Katz talks about the transformation of the term “underclass.” It started out as a derogatory term used towards black people dominating the crumbling core of the nation’s inner cities. It eventually grew as being the culture of the poor. However, I find it interesting that Katz is celebrating the entrepreneurial energy and talent within poor people who were waiting for the chance to improve their lives. This transformation resulted from the increase in support and aid given to the poor. This help gave them the ability to focus on making something out of themselves rather than remain in poverty.
The example of Muhammad Yunus and his support for people in poverty is a perfect way of helping them climb out of their unfortunate circumstance. I also agree with the rejection the belief that the underclass hurt the safety, health, and prosperity of America’s inner cities. Instead, I think that these effects are brought about by a lack of effort to help the people in poverty, which sometimes causes them to use alternative methods in making a living.
I think that many of the issues that defined the underclass at the time are still persistant today. For example, prominent drugs, crime, teenage pregnancy, and high unemployment, not necessarily poverty, defined the underclass. The people who are thought of as being underclass are also very similar. They are usually young and minorities. All of these qualities of the urban underclass would make anyone to think that they would make up the highly disproportionate number of the nation’s juvenile delinquents, school dropouts, drug addicts and welfare mothers, and much of the adult crime, family disruption, urban decay, and demand for social expenditures.
The programs set in place for the underclass played a large role in why it took so long for them to rise from poverty. The poorhouses that were put in place to despise and neglect the underclass. Even the public schools that were created to educate the children of the urban underclass were not effective. They were less effective than the the smaller schools of the past were. I feel like the struggles that these people faced were a big reason why the current underclass is so willing to work hard to get out of poverty.
I think that the idea of micro-finance is very good since it recognizes the importance of saving to poor people. According to me, the U.S. government tries to help build individual assets, but it is not as effective as it probably can be. It helps the people who already in the upperclass increase their wealth, such as paying interest on mortgages being tax deductible and since the upperclassmen tend to have higher mortgages, they benefit from such a program. I think that there should be more programs that direct their help specifically to the people who are in poverty and are trying to better their living conditions.
