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Ironically, welfare dependency causes social degeneration which increases the unruliness of the lower classes. Far from buying them off it increases and pathologies the class.

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If upward mobility we're to be made equally available throughout society wouldn't it result in all white/black disparities remain? I don't think people will be satisfied with having a house double in size and college costs cut in half if white people also enjoy those benefits of progress.

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Upward mobility will benefit people of all races. It is unclear what impact it would have on racial disparities, but it is unlikely to create racial equality.

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I agree with everything here. Your writing is getting truly inspired of late.

However, if I can be a devil's advocate on your suggestion that 95% of Americans should be upwardly mobile.

Just spitballing the numbers, it seems likely that about 10% of Americans are functionally retarded. Another 10% are addicted to drugs or are alcoholics. 5 to 10% are mentally unbalanced. Another 5 percent are sociopathic and completely untrustworthy . Another 5% are permanently and severely disabled.

Admittedly, I just made up these numbers, and some of these people/groups overlap. But the estimates don’t seem far off to me, and are possibly higher. I am just wondering if the true number of people who are functionally useless in a modern economic society of specialization and integration is closer to twenty percent or more.

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Mar 27·edited Mar 27Author

Glad that you enjoy the articles.

The exact quote that you mention is "I see no reason to believe that 90-95% of the American people cannot have relatively enjoyable lives while being able to create a reasonable standard of living for themselves through their efforts."

Obviously, I am speculating on the exact number, but I don't think it is too far off. Low-intelligence people can still get low-skilled jobs. So can drug addicts and alcoholics. Many high-power professional occupations are more likely to have sociopaths than the rest of the population. Same for mental disorders. It is now easier for the physically disabled to work than it was in the past.

I also think that there is a very high overlap between those groups that you list out.

I also think that an elimination of the negative incentives that our social programs create would give people a much stronger incentive to change behaviors.

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