Thread by @arctotherium42

Thread with excerpts from "American Millstone" (1986), a series of Chicago Tribune essays focused on the American underclass (defined vaguely but think: welfare, broken families, crime), as seen in one particular 97% black Chicago neighborhood.

The underclass was a new phenomenon in 1986, only really appearing in the 60s. Its existence rebuked both Civil Rights and the Great Society. In the US, mostly a black thing (and Hispanic, but that was just starting), but white underclasses exist (eg Britain).

I knew Charles Murray was old, but I didn't realize he'd already made his name as a critic of the Great Society in 1986.

Insane dysfunction of the underclass: three generations of blacks having kids at 15 and living off of welfare. 4 kids, zero work. Life plan of mother: move off Aid for Families with Dependent Children onto disability, which pays more.

The incredible financial cost of managing urban black crime. Most underclass members supplemented their welfare checks with theft, stripping public infrastructure (cobblestones), drugs, and prostitution.

The De Mau Maus, a gang of black terrorists who killed 10 whites during a 5-month crime spree.

Just account after account of people blowing up their and other people's lives for no reason, all funded by the government.

The change in who received AFDC over time: from widows to single mothers.

The rite of adulthood in the underclass: having a kid (many women in this book have 4,5,8 kids) and getting your first welfare check. Ending AFDC in the 90s fixed this, I'm quite confident serious $$$ pronatalism that was not carefully designed would bring it back.

Sex is simply "something to do." I think cheap, ubiquitous entertainment is responsible for the decline of the underclass birth rate since 2012, which is the one really positive demographic trend of the 21st century.

Neither underclass men nor underclass women see much point in marrying. The check is good enough for the women, and the men don't want to be tied down (but are happy to mooch off the checks).

White teacher moved to underclass Chicago to teach. She wrote a will asking her family not to blame blacks if they killed her.

Jobs do not bring respect, but scorn.

Area was physically destroyed in the 1968 race riots. Feds poured in millions to no avail. Black employment collapsed after Civil Rights and the Great Society. Urban decline and "racial succession" go hand-in-hand.

Blacks became too prideful for menial jobs in the 60s and the stigma of welfare vanished.

This particular burned-out ruin of a neighborhood, full of junkies and murderers living off of women literally paid to have more children, was a Democrat success story: 99.5% voted for Mondale against Reagan.

Nationally, 80% of social housing was occupied by blacks or Hispanics [still a small group in 1986]. In Chicago, 95% was black.

I respect Reagan and the 80s/90s welfare reformers a lot more having read this book. Though of course they did not go nearly far enough. Today, some of the more extreme dysfunction of the underclass is abating (fewer broods of 8 children starting at age 15, all paid for by the taxpayer) and aging and mass incarceration have rendered it less violent. However, the more basic elements of the underclass (disdaining work and marriage) have spread and are now mainstream in American society.