Why Don't the Poor Rise Up?

[swilton]

Key to understanding the contemporary phenomenon of increasing income inequality is what sociologists are studying - individualization - the notion of having the luxury of choices - in one case multiple cheap consumer goods - at the expense of solidarity and community.

Instead of boosting prospects for the poor and working class, the agenda associated with individualization works in tandem with rapid technological advance, the internationalization of commerce and the demise of the paternalistic or loyalty-based workplace to exacerbate inequality. This agenda has contributed to an upheaval in traditional family structures. And the well educated and the affluent are better equipped to adapt to such upheaval while the less well off and the less well educated bear the brunt of change.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/opinion/why-dont-the-poor-rise-up.html?_r=2