From The Sunday TimesDecember 28, 2008

The underclass that shames Scotland

If Alex Salmond wants to be a real national leader, he should address the problem of our state
dependent communities Allan !assie
It is a couple of years since Da"id #ameron started to spea$ about our %bro$en society&' (ow we
ha"e a bro$en economy, too, and attention has been di"erted to it' The economy, howe"er, will
heal itself in time, this bein) the nature of thin)s, and prosperity will return, despite the *rown
Darlin) addiction to debt and the burden this will place on taxpayers for years to come'
There will be a painful couple of years durin) which businesses will fail and unemployment rise,
but e"entually confidence will be restored and the economy will be)in to )row a)ain, all the
more +uic$ly if politicians can resist the itch to meddle'
The bro$en society is another , and more serious , matter alto)ether- more serious because
there is no reason to thin$ that it will, li$e the economy, mend itself'
.f course, there are "ast areas of society that remain in )ood health' *ut nobody can fail to
obser"e that the )ulf between those who mana)e their li"es with )eneral success and those who
don/t is wide and deep' The fear now is that it/s )ettin) wider and deeper'
0"idence of this social disaster has been laid out often enou)h' 1e now unmista$ably ha"e an
%underclass&' There was a )ood deal of resentment and disappro"al when the American
sociolo)ist #harles !urray first employed this term more than 20 years a)o' It was re)arded as
pe2orati"e, a word that sti)matised the unfortunate' At best it was a nasty expression for a nasty
state of affairs' Some of that resentment and disappro"al ha"e faded as the reality of the situation
has become undeniable' 3ou may prefer to spea$ of %social depri"ation&, but the $inder phrase
scarcely mas$s the reality'
The underclass are those for whom unemployment has become an often inherited way of life' In
normal society, people wor$ to fund their li"es , to buy food, housin), consumer )oods,
holidays' The statedependent underclass sur"i"e, e"en thou)h they don/t wor$' Society funds
them throu)h taxes, predominantly paid by the wor$in) population'
The middleclasses can li"e i)norant of the underclass, whose li"es rarely impin)e on theirs,
except occasionally as a result of criminal acti"ity' It is the wor$in) class who tend to resent the
underclass the most because they are more aware of and affected by their presence , and
because they are also more immediately conscious that their wor$ is supportin) those who don/t'
1e all $now the characteristics of this bro$en society- lon)term unemployment, educational
failure, unstable relationships, sin)le parenthood, addiction to dru)s and4or alcohol, poor health,
2u"enile delin+uency, antisocial beha"iour, "iolence and crime' Some of these are e"ident in all
sectors of society5 it is the combination of them in concentrated form in the noncommunities in
which people sur"i"e as dependents of the state that ma$es for an underclass' The reality of its
existence is indeed more e"ident than at any time since Disraeli in the 6870s spo$e of there bein)
%two nations , the rich and the poor&'
8oliticians ha"e for the most part been happy to )loss o"er the reality of our bro$en society, and
for two reasons' First, it/s disturbin) to contemplate5 second, they ha"e no remedy' There/s no
si)n that #ameron has any solution either , it/s not somethin) for which there is any +uic$ fix'
*ut at least he has faced up to its reality'
There has been no correspondin) willin)ness to do so here in Scotland' The 9abour party has
spo$en feelin)ly of %social depri"ation&, without findin) the means to alle"iate it, partly perhaps
because they tend to re)ard the existence of depri"ed communities :or, more accurately, non
communities; as bein) the conse+uence almost entirely of economic forces' Any su))estion that
indi"iduals mi)ht to some extent anyway be responsible for their condition is condemned as
insensiti"e'
*ut there is another reason for the lac$ of attention paid to the emer)ence of an underclass here
in Scotland, and this is the ineffable Scottish characteristic of complacency and selfsatisfaction'
Durin) the Thatcher years, 9abour, the S(8 and the 9iberal Democrats all indul)ed in a holier
thanthou attitude' The Scots, they belie"ed, were a more moral people than the 0n)lish, )i"en
less to selfish indi"idualism, more to socialdemocratic communitarianism- we had a sense of
social responsibility absent from the Thatcherite south' <ordon *rown still complacently
encapsulates this attitude, and so too does Alex Salmond'
This bein) so, it is difficult for a Scottish politician to admit that our social problems are e"ery
bit as se"ere as in other parts of the =nited >in)dom, hard for them to admit the social and
political failure that has contributed to the emer)ence of an underclass, e"en harder to reco)nise
that it is welfarism that ma$es its perpetuation possible'
.f course, a bro$en society can/t humanely dispense with welfarism' The truly unfortunate ha"e
to be supported'
1e all accept this' !oreo"er, the scope for effecti"e political action is limited' #ertainly there is
not much the Scottish )o"ernment can do in this respect, since it is not responsible for social
security' (or will tax incenti"es that fa"our marria)e ma$e much difference, since members of
the underclass don/t pay direct taxes' :That said, raisin) the le"el at which people be)in to pay
tax by a considerable amount would be a useful first step';
3et there are two thin)s that the de"ol"ed administration could do' First, it could embar$ on a
thorou)h)oin) reform of our schools , perhaps on the Swedish model, perhaps by payin)
hi)her salaries to )ood teachers prepared to wor$ in areas of social depri"ation, perhaps by
abandonin) the practice of sub2ectin) all children to a +uasiacademic curriculum' Since
e"eryone reco)nises that educational failure is a prime cause of our bro$en society, bold
experiments are surely o"erdue'
Second, Salmond could hi)hli)ht the reality far more "i)orously than he has done' ?is
predecessor, @ac$ !c#onnell, spo$e of sectarianism as %Scotland/s secret shame&' This was
nonsense' Sectarianism is a problem only in a few areas' It doesn/t exist across most of Scotland'
.ur real shame is the indifference shown to the existence of this underclass' If Salmond wants to
be a real national leader, rather than merely an effecti"e party chief, he should ma$e addressin)
the problem of our bro$en society his priority'
The End of Upward Mobility?
Jan 16, 2! "# $M EST
American society is based on the idea that AanyoneA can reach the top' *ut the )ap between rich
and poor is )rowin), and the ladder seems to be disappearin)'
*arac$ .bamaAs ascension to the presidency wonAt end racism, but it does mean race is no lon)er
the dominant issue in American politics' Instead, o"er the comin) decades, class will li$ely
constitute the ma2or di"idin) line in our society,and the )reatest threat to AmericaAs historic
aspirations' This is a fundamental shift from the last century' 1ritin) in the early 6B00s, 1'0'*'
Du*ois obser"ed, CThe problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line'C
De"elopments in the ensuin) years bore out this assertion' Indeed, before the 6BD0s, the decade
of *arac$ .bamaAs birth, e"en the most talented people of color faced often insurmountable
barriers to reachin) their full potential' Today in a multiracial America, the path to success has
opened up to an extent unima)inable in Du*oisAs time'
.bamaAs ascent reflects in particular the rise of the blac$ bour)eoisie from to$ens to a force at
the heart of the meritocracy' Since the late 6BD0s, the proportion of AfricanAmerican
households li"in) in po"erty has shrun$ from E0 percent to 7D percent, while the blac$ middle
class has )rown from 2E percent to FE percent' 8erhaps more remar$able, the percenta)e who are
considered prosperous,earnin) more than G60E,000 a year in 200E dollars,expanded from F
percent to 6E percent'
3et as racial e+uity has impro"ed, class disparities between rich and poor, between the ultra
affluent and the middle class, ha"e widened' This )ap transcends race' AfricanAmericans and
9atinos may tend, on a"era)e, to be poorer than whites or Asians, but sta)nant or e"en
diminishin) incomes affect all ethnic )roups' :!ost housecleaners are white, for instance,and
the same )oes for other lowwa)e professions'; Di"isions may not be as "isible as durin) the
<ilded A)e'
As Ir"in) >ristol once noted, C1ho doesnAt wear blue 2eans these daysHC 3ou can wal$ into a
film studio or software firm and ha"e trouble distin)uishin) upper mana)ement from midle"el
employees'
*ut from the 6B70s to the 6BE0s, the American middle class en2oyed steadily increasin) incomes
that stayed on a par with those in the upper classes' Since then, wa)es for most wor$ers ha"e
la))ed behind' As a result, the relati"ely small number of Americans with incomes se"en times
or more abo"e the po"erty le"el ha"e achie"ed almost all the recent )ains in wealth' !ost
disturbin)ly, the rate of upward mobility has sta)nated o"erall, which means it is no easier for
the poor to mo"e up today than it was in the 6BE0s'
This disparity is stri$in)ly e"ident in income data compiled by #iti)roup, which shows that the
top 6 percent of ='S' households now account for as much of the nationAs total wealth,E percent
,as they did in 6B6F, when monopolistic business practices were the order of the day' Their net
worth is now )reater than that of the bottom B0 percent of the nationAs households combined' The
top 20 percent of taxpayers realiIed nearly three +uarters of all income )ains from 6BEB to 2000'
0"en )ettin) a colle)e de)ree no lon)er )uarantees upward mobility' The implicit American
contract has always been that with education and hard wor$, anyone can )et ahead' *ut since
2000, youn) people with colle)e educations,except those who )o to elite colle)es and )raduate
schools,ha"e seen their wa)es decline' The deepenin) recession will ma$e this worse'
Accordin) to a 2008 sur"ey by the (ational Association of #olle)es and 0mployers, half of all
companies plan to cut the number of new )raduates they hire this year, compared with last' *ut
the problem )oes well beyond the current crisis' For one thin), the )rowin) number of )raduates
has flooded the 2ob mar$et at a time when many financially pressed boomers are postponin)
retirement' And colle)eeducated wor$ers today face unprecedented competition from s$illed
labor in other countries, particularly in the de"elopin) world'
The )reatest challen)e for .bama will be to chan)e this tra2ectory for Americans under F0, who
supported him by two to one' The promise that CanyoneC can reach the hi)hest le"els of society
is the basis of both our historic optimism and the stability of our political system' 3et e"en
before the recession, )rowin) ine+uality was underminin) AmericansA optimism about the future'
In a 200D Jo)by poll, for example, nearly two thirds of adults did not thin$ life would be better
for their children' ?owe"er inspirational the story of his ascent, *arac$ .bama will be 2ud)ed
lar)ely by whether he can rebuild a ladder of upward mobility for the rest of America, too'
Meditation on %ender lands $ope in hot water
$osted on &ecember 2', 2(

<ay ri)hts )roups reacted an)rily to the 8ope/s #hristmas messa)e yesterday, in which he said
preser"in) traditional )ender identities was as important as protectin) the tropical rainforests'
The #hurch, 8ope *enedict KLI told cardinals and senior Latican staff, must not only defend
nature as C)ifts of creation which belon) to all' It must also protect man a)ainst destruction by
himself' It is necessary for there to be somethin) li$e an ecolo)y of manM it is not an outdated
metaphysics, if the #hurch spea$s of the nature of the human bein) as man and woman and as$s
that this order of creation be respected'C To show disrespect for Cthe lan)ua)e of creation,C he
said, would mean Cthe selfdestruction of man and thus the destruction of the wor$ of <od
itselfC'
?e added- CThe tropical forest deser"es our protection, but no less so than does man as creation'C
!an/s nature, he said, is Ca messa)e that does not si)nify the contradiction of our freedom, but
its conditionC'
The speech came only a wee$ after the Latican tried to torpedo a 0uropean text intended for the
=nited (ations aimed at decriminalisin) homosexuality, which it said went too far' Thou)h
carefully nuanced and a"oidin) rhetoric, the latest declaration by 8ope *enedict was seen as
another anti)ay broadside by a 8ope who has made his refusal to soften the #hurch/s line on
sexuality a $ey theme of his papacy' It was stin)in)ly criticised by )ay "oices both inside and
outside the #hristian churches'
The Ne" Sharon Fer)uson, chief executi"e of the 9esbian and <ay #hristian !o"ement, said- CIt
is comments li$e this that 2ustify the homophobic bullyin) that )oes on in schools, and M that
2ustify )aybashin)' There are so many instances of people bein) $illed around the world,
includin) in 1estern society, purely and simply because of their sexual orientation or their
)ender identity'
C1hen you ha"e reli)ious leaders li$e that ma$in) that sort of statement, then followers feel they
are 2ustified in beha"in) in an a))ressi"e and "iolent way, because they feel that they are doin)
<od/s wor$ in riddin) the world of these people'C
<eor)e *roadhead, of the 8in$ Trian)le Trust, a )ay charity, said- CThis must be the most
outra)eous and biIarre claim yet made by the 8ope, who has already )ot a welldeser"ed
reputation as one of the most "iciously homophobic world leaders, on a par with !ahmoud
Ahmadine2ad of Iran and Nobert !u)abe of Jimbabwe'C
?e added- CThe Latican has already reinforced its anti)ay reputation by stron)ly opposin) a =(
declaration callin) for an end to discrimination a)ainst )ays, but this latest papal outburst is clear
e"idence of an obsession about homosexuality which is tantamount to paranoia'C
8eter Tatchell, the cofounder of .utNa)eO, said- C*y choosin) to hi)hli)ht homosexuality
instead of hun)er, war and homelessness, the 8ope has lost his moral bearin)s and sense of
priorities' Freemar$et capitalism, and its culture of )reed and consumerism, is a far )reater
threat to the ecolo)ical sur"i"al of our planet than homosexuality and transsexuality'C
In Italy, the initial )ay reaction to the speech was more )uarded' C1e ha"e become an obsession
for NatIin)er,C said the )ay ri)hts or)anisation Arci)ay' Imma *atta)lia, the former leader of the
Di)ay 8ro2ect, said- C#an/t we be allowed to en2oy #hristmas, tooHC
Lladimir 9uxuria, Italy/s first transsexual !8 until her defeat in the )eneral election this year,
spo$e for others li$e herself when she commented- C1e don/t feel li$e a craIy splinter outside
the di"ine pro2ect but people 2ust li$e e"erybody else who should not be condemned as sinners
purely on account of bein) trans)ender'
CTo insist that the body is more important than the spirit, as the #hurch does, seems to me a
contradiction of what it always preaches' The alternati"e is to adapt our body to our spirit' If my
interior spirit is feminine, then in reality I am not chan)in) )ender' If my emotions and my brain
are feminine, I am simply adaptin) to my own true nature' To refuse to do so seems to me an act
both simplistic and e)otistical'C
In his speech, the 8ope, who as an academic theolo)ian has for decades fou)ht modern
secularism in all its forms, was apparently ta$in) up arms a)ainst the ideas about )ender
de"eloped by the American poststructuralist philosopher @udith *utler' In her boo$ <ender
Trouble- Feminism and the Sub"ersion of Identity, published in 6BB0, 8rofessor *utler ar)ues
that our ideas about the cate)ories of sex, )ender and sexuality are not the product of biolo)y but
are culturally constructed in accordance with what a )i"en society permits'
For orthodox #hristians, howe"er, the CnormalC relations between man and woman are di"inely
ordained' CThe lifelon) ties between a man and a woman,C the 8ope said in his speech, are Ca
sacrament of creation, instituted by the #reator'C
1hat he saidM
CThe church has a responsibility for creation and must demonstrate this responsibility publiclyM
It must also protect man a)ainst destruction by himself' It is necessary for there to be somethin)
li$e an ecolo)y of man' This is not an outdated metaphysics, if the #hurch spea$s of the nature
of the human bein) as man and woman and as$s that this order of creation be respected'
?ere we are dealin) with the fact of faith in the #reator and payin) attention to the lan)ua)e of
creation, the disrespectin) of which would be a selfdestruction of man and thus destruction of
the wor$ of <od' 1hat is often understood by the word P)ender/ finds its resolution in the auto
emancipation of man from creation and from the #reator'
!an wants toM control e"erythin) that concerns him' *ut in this way he li"es a)ainst the
creator' The tropical forest deser"es our protection, but no less than man as creationMC

8eter 8opham, The Independent, 27'62'08