In the excerpt we read by Katz he writes that the underclass transformed, in it of itself it is now coming to be defined as entrepreneurs. Katz means by this that the people who were previously seen as poor and underprivileged were now more hopeful where they are waiting for an opportunity and then be able to capitalize on it and thereby become successful. Personally, I believe that what Katz is saying holds some truth to it but, it is not completely true, furthermore putting them to this standard may have some repercussions.
During the beginning of Katz’s excerpt my first thoughts were complete disagreement. My first thought was that you have to explain what underclass means, which he does by saying it has many societal factors. But, he proceeds to give an example of a teenage girl who gets pregnant out of wedlock and then ‘mooches’ off society. That sounds a bit underclass, this is not implying that all people who take money from society are underclass, quite the opposite. The differentiation I’m trying to emphasize is that being poor doesn’t necessarily make one underclass. Rather, if one chooses to accept themselves as being poor and being less than everyone else they are underclass, not because they are any worse than anybody else, but because they don’t believe enough in themselves to succeed. And in my opinion that’s the true meaning of underclass.
Regarding what Katz said about the concept of the ‘underclass’ being considered entrepreneurs (again I hold this to mean the poor, as not all poor are underclass) this holds some truth where they just need an opportunity as he says. Take Steve Jobs, when he was founding Apple he built the first computer in his parents’s garage. In fact Steve’s parents couldn’t really afford to pay for his higher education, so he audited a lot of classes and slept on the floor in his friends’ dorm rooms. However, he soon became one of worlds greatest entrepreneurs of the 21st century. But, I guess it refers back to what Katz said, he waited for an opportunity and seized it, for him it was Apple the company he helped cofound and he did a great job at it.
Finally, one has to be careful by putting the poor/underclass in a way where one is claiming they are Entrepreneurs. The reason for this is that on the one hand you set them up for failure, but on the other hand you are setting them up for greatness. By placing them in this light one of two situations may occur, either the people will use this as a motivation and will accept there’s more to them than meets the eye. Or they might think the bar is set too high and since they will never make it they might as well not try. I guess this refers back to my definition of the underclass, where here there is a clear distinction. Those who will use it to fuel their drive are simply poor, while those who will just give up because of it, those are the true people who are underclass.
Finally, after an analysis of how Katz introduces the topic of underclass meaning entrepreneurs I have to disagree. I think that the poor has the potential to become entrepreneurs (as does everyone else) but, the true underclass are those who don’t choose to act on this.
