Judith Goode explains that people in poverty are just as good at finding solutions to their problems as more affluent people are. They simply are not given the same opportunities because of where they stand in society. Sometimes the only solutions they can find to help their families are lives of crime, such as drug dealing. She also mentions how poor people are blamed for their circumstances and things like racial inequalities and even class discrimination play a big role in why they are stuck in their positions. She criticizes myths on how people on the bottom are being blamed for the unequal social order. Industrial capitalism has caused the belief that the persistence of poverty in capitalist societies on the individual moral flaws and deviant cultures of poor people. These beliefs and ideas dehumanize poor people and inherently cause them staying in poverty by allowing the discrimination that restricts them from getting jobs. Philippe Bourgois focuses on how impoverished people become drug dealers for many different reasons that are not always discussed. One is that people have legal jobs, but begin to realize that their relationships with their employers are not good as they tend to be discriminated against. Therefore, they leave those jobs and find that drug dealing is easy, they can work for themselves or other people that understand them, and they can make a good income to help their families. They also had trouble acting in an “office appropriate” manner because of the culture that they grew up in. Bourgois emphasizes that in both office and street arenas, the conflicts between superiors and subordinates tend to lead to self destruction.
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