Part 12. JK Galbraith. The Underclass.

JK Galbraith published two works which had a major influence on my thinking. One is entitled The Affluent Society. The other is The Culture Of Contentment.  Each is a critique of the USA economic, social and political system but the message it contains applies equally to developed democratic capitalist nations (and others like China).

Galbraith identifies in capitalist societies the existence of what he names  an underclass. This underclass is poorly educated, lives in bad housing, is in badly paid jobs or unemployed, prone to ill-health and the communities they live in  have poor infrastructure and support services. Set against this there is a contented class in well paid jobs, access to the best medical and educational provision  living in good housing and enjoying a congenial working environment.

The contented class rely on the work undertaken by the underclass to maintain their lifestyle. The contented class is electorally strong and politicians are keen for their votes.  The consequence is that the contented class has its hands on the levers of government. As a result governments will seek to protect the contented class and not raise taxes to fund better living conditions for the underclass nor remedy the eroding of infrastructure and support services for those living in deprived communities.