BOOKS
143
T he mos t un expected reve la ti o n a bo ut the Briti sh undercl ass is its
close resemb lance to its counter pa rt in the United Sta tes . T hi s is a ll the
more su rprising, since in the U.S . the underclass is la rge ly composed of
eth n ic min o riti es, mostl y black a nd Hispa ni c, whereas in Brita in it is
mostl y white w ith a g rowing co lored representa ti o n. No hi storic expe–
ri ence of slave ry a nd rac ia l di sc rimina ti o n ca n account for the burgeon–
ing socia l patho logies of thi s white underclass in England.
Why is a sta bl e a nd democ ra ti c soc iety th a t has had a genero us we l–
fare sta te for a lo ng time beset by these pa tho logies? Wh y so much
rec rea ti o na l vio lence, bruta lity towa rd women, a nd a w ide ra nge o f
cas ua l a nti soc ia l behav io r ? Da lrympl e does no t shy from a nswe rs. There
is, to beg in w ith , huma n na ture no t spo nta neously give n to benevolent
socia l imp ul ses . Unli ke most Ameri ca n commentato rs o n such ma tters,
he does no t beli eve th a t most peop le have eno rmo us unrea li zed po ten–
t ia ls o f kindness and crea ti vity. Peopl e need to lea rn as children how to
act d ecentl y and ta ke res po nsibility fo r th eir acti o ns. When neither par–
ents nor schoo ls no r any o ther socia l agency a re ab le o r w illing to per–
form th ese tas ks, there w ill be a multitude of agg ress ive, amo ra l, and
p redato ry adults, es pec ia ll y amo ng young ma les . Brita in a lso suffers
from hi gh ra tes o f ill eg itimacy, soa ring to a na ti o na l ave rage of 40 per–
cent a nd hi gher as o ne descends o n the soc ia l-class sca le.
Mass culture is a lso to bl ame for the conditi o ns th a t inculca te wo rth–
less as pira ti o ns a nd encourage a n irres po nsibl e sense of entitl ement to
pleas ure a nd self- indul gence, es pec ia ll y amo ng the uneduca ted. These
indi ctments doveta il with the presc ient message o f Ri cha rd H ogga rt,
who wa rned a lmos t ha lf a century ago (in hi s
Uses of Literacy)
a bo ut
the d estructi o n o f Briti sh wo rking-cl ass culture a nd va lues by the insid–
io us impac t o f mass culture, we ll befo re telev ision became omnipresent
(Da lrympl e repo rts tha t " the ave rage Engli sh adult now wa tches
twenty-seve n ho urs of it per week ") .
Fin a ll y the re is th e Briti sh welfa re sta te a nd wha t the a utho r ca lls
" the burea uc racy of compass io n," which instituti o na li zed a dete rminis–
ti c view of huma n behav io r re li ev ing people o f res po nsibility for their
behav io r o n e ither socia l, psycho logica l, o r bi o logica l grounds.
It a ppea rs tha t eve ry tenet o f po litica l co rrectness a nd the associ a ted
suppo rti ve beli efs fo und in the United Sta tes no t o nl y fl o uri sh but
appear to be mo re vigorous and uncontested in Br ita in:
Me re semi -literacy and ignora nce doesn't necessaril y di sq ua lify
young people from pass ing public examinati ons.... Since fa ilure
is now regarded as fa ta ll y damaging to self-esteem, anyone who
