On pages 121-122, McGarvey tells us, ‘The conversation about poverty is usually dominated by people with very little experience of being poor…. It’s this deficit between those who tend to lead the conversation and those who experience the issue that not only impedes progress but also leads to people
Understanding Britain’s Underclass: Part 2
McGarvey is at his angriest (and most correct) when he is disseminating the effects of gentrification in our schemes. To him, this process is basically about ‘the practice of getting rid of any evidence that the community is working-class’ (p74). It’s hard to disagree when I look at my own
How Music Brought Hope this Christmas
A Letter from the Music Coordinator In the run-up to Christmas, 20schemes music put on a mini-tour of the U.K. visiting some of the 20schemes church plants providing them with a rehearsed group of musicians for the purpose of putting on a carol service. The aim of the tour was to encourage each
Understanding Britain’s Underclass: Part 1
I was looking forward to reading this book after hearing so much about it. I was hoping this was going to be the UK’s answer to the brilliant Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. Written by Darren McGarvey, a native of Pollock, Glasgow, this book was everything I hoped it would be, yet with a sad finale (at
The Beautiful Field of Housing Schemes
This is the final section of a three-part series on Theodore Dalrymple’s book Life at the Bottom, which explores the lives of the ‘underclass’ living on schemes. In the chapter ‘Choosing to Fail’, Dalrymple strikes right at the heart of the problems we face in the schemes. Commenting on the many
The Death Of Dreams & Ambition
This is the second in a three-part series on Theodore Dalrymple’s book Life at the Bottom, which explores the lives of the ‘underclass’ living on schemes and council estates in the UK. Dalrymple’s chapter ‘Goodbye, Cruel World’ is particularly helpful in catching the underlying social pressures of
A Change is as Good as Rest
My name is Carrie, I’m almost 60, and while most of my friends and other people my age are preparing for retirement, I did the unthinkable. Eight months ago I sold my belongings and left family, kids, and precious grandkids to move across the ocean to a small community in the east end of Glasgow.
Why Playing The Victim Leads To Death & Taking Responsibility Leads to Life
Described as a book that is a classic of our times, Life at the Bottom was first published in 2001. The book informs us that: ‘The majority of the British underclass is white, and that it demonstrates all the same social pathology as the black underclass in America – for similar reasons of course’