Industriousness in America has suffered due to cultural inequality. In 1960 if you were a healthy man between the ages of 30 and 49 you were considered into the workforce yet in recent studies we can observe how the lower class population has eroded from the labor force. "The percentage went from a low 3% in 1968 to 12% in 2008 in the working class without high school degrees yet among males with college education, only 3% were out of the labor force in 2008" (349). Charles Murray explains through data that people coming from more humble parts of society are more likely to not be willing or able to work. On the other hand, data shows how people with more than high school degrees stay involved into the labor force. People with higher education tend to strive more and are accustomed to achieve more than the day before, if you are born into a family that demands more of yourself it will form your character and in most cases enhance young people's chances to improve in life, even though it might not always be for the betterment of society as a whole.
During the 1960's, the government introduced many projects in order to help people with low to none income keep going, but the consequences were never expected. The government's "free money" could be considered the primary cause of the dissolution of the working-class and households in America. Government help such as welfare, section 8, food stamps or Medicaid has resulted in working-class women no longer needing a husband to afford raising a son/daughter, and men finally found a way to become financially independent by depending on someone else. People "work the system" to avoid working at all and leave more opportunities for people with money, connections, or pure willingness to progress.
Rich people do not care about poor people. This is the message Murray left on my head after reading his book, he argues that people living in SuperZIPs are so far away from reality that they only know a fraction of what America truly is.
