Joel Kotkin of NewGeography.com details in Forbes the dire straits of the British working class now and says it could happen here, unless we’re careful. Alcoholism is rampant and unemployment is high. They are mostly ignored by the major parties and the far left while immigrants pass them by economically.
You can see the repeat here of some of the factors paralleling the development of British yobism: longer-term unemployment; the growing threat of meth labs in hard-hit cities and small towns; and, most particularly, a 20% unemployment rate for workers under age 25. Amazingly barely one in three white teenagers, according to a recent Hamilton College poll, thinks his standard of living will be better than his parents’.
It’s no surprise then that Democrats are losing support among working-class whites, much like the now-destitute British Labour Party. But the potential yobization of the American working class represents far more than a political issue. It threatens the very essence of what has made the U.S. unique and different from its mother country.