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who ... were so convinced of the gross injustice of the world that
they were convinced also that nothing they did themselves could
add significantly
to
its sum.
Much of this could be ascribed
to
modernity which, as has often been
noted, undermines the sense of community and purpose while raising
expectations about the fulfillment of various material as well as emo–
tional needs. The result has been a serious erosion of both formal and
informal controls over behavior.
Freedom without responsibility, free-floating aggression, and a moral
vacuum are the key characteristics of this underclass, whose difficulties
are mostly self-inflicted, the author argues. He also comes
to
the con–
clusion that "the mental, cultural, emotional and spiritual impoverish–
ment of the Western underclass is the greatest of any group of people
I
have encountered anywhere."
The fundamental source of all the pathologies and miseries Dalrym–
ple vividly details are to be found in the ideas of intellectuals, and in the
elites and policymakers influenced by them. He reserves his most with–
eri ng criticism for left-I ibera I intellectua Is whose ideas not on Iy hel ped
to
shape the welfare state but filtered down
to
those inclined
to
irre–
sponsible, antisocial attitudes and provided excuses for such behavior.
For example "the extension of the term 'addiction' ... cover[s] any
undesirable but nonetheless gratifying behavior." Likewise "criminals
call for therapy for all anti-social behavior-curiously enough only after
it has led
to
imprisonment, not before." He holds responsible the pre–
vailing non-judgmcntalism, "the climate of moral, cultural and intellec–
tual relativism ... Ithatl has been successfully communicated to those
least able
to
resist its devastating practical effects."
Life at the Bottom
is a powerful reaction against, and corrective
to,
the prevailing conventional wisdom about human nature, social prob–
lems, education, sexual morality, personal responsibility, and the part
the government can or should play in creating conditions for personal
fulfillment and social harmony. This helps us understand why the
author occasionally overstates his case. There
are
circumstances that
substantially diminish personal control and choice and significantly
contribute
to
antisocial behavior.
If
this volume places little emphasis on
them it is because the opposite, deterministic point of view has prevailed
for so long. Most importantly, Dalrymple is right
to
reemphasize that
"human behavior cannot be explained without reference
to
the meaning
and intentions people give to their acts and omissions."
