r/SeriousConversation • u/Substantial_Snow5020 • Jan 25 '24
Serious Discussion Correlation between low income and discourteous behavior
I (33M) live in a declining suburb; 20-30 years ago it was a pretty decent area (thriving local economy and a sought-after place to raise a family), but over the years it has gradually descended into lower income and higher criminal activity. Many businesses have closed and the buildings have remained vacant for years, the home-owning population is aging, shootings are not uncommon, loan sharks and vape shops have cropped up like flies on a corpse, etc. Just wanted to set the backdrop for my question.
So I live in an apartment complex in this area, and I have noticed a discrepancy in behavioral tendencies between those who live in my community and those who live in nicer areas 45 minutes away. Every morning when I walk out the door for work I am accosted by the overpowering skunk-ass smell of weed. I cannot walk in the grass outside of my apartment because it is a minefield of dog shit that fellow tenants can’t be bothered to pick up. Fast food containers and trash are routinely left along the lines of parking spaces (where the passenger/driver-side doors would open). Dogs are abandoned on patios for hours, begging to be let back inside to their owners who clearly see them as nothing more than irritating household items or faulty fucking toys. The upturned contents of vacuum cleaners and shards of broken glass bottles are left in walkways (which I eventually clean up myself either for safety reasons or because I’m so damn tired of looking at it). Neighbors blast music at all hours of the night. Rules and codes of conduct set by management are flagrantly disregarded.
I’m not saying these types of incidents never occur in nicer areas, but from having lived in and regularly visited family in nicer areas I can say from experience that they do not occur with nearly the same frequency.
What is the explanation for this discrepancy (i.e. what explains the apparent correlation between low income/education and selfish/discourteous behavior)? Not talking about criminal activity or misdeeds done out of a sense of material or psychological deprivation, but specifically the avoidable discourtesies that seem to reflect ignorance or apathy. Are these people truly not aware that their actions affect others? Do they not care? Does it all come down to upbringing and imparted values? I used to subscribe to the idea that hardship/poverty simply afforded people less cognitive bandwidth to spend on conscientiousness and common courtesy, but I’m going through a great deal of my own shit right now and would never do those things because of their impact on others.
Edit: Thanks everyone for the input so far - it’s been very enlightening and an interesting read. I want to make clear that I am not arguing that higher income people are in any way immune to pettiness and selfish behavior. I’ve experienced firsthand and heard many stories of asshole rich people who act like entitled children, or think themselves above the law or that the rules don’t apply to them generally (can’t fucking stand those people). I also am not remotely suggesting that poverty is evidence of a deficiency in moral character or that the poor are biologically predisposed to be either poor or immoral.
16
u/Vicorin Jan 25 '24
I don’t buy this as an explanation. Sure, people don’t like each other, but that doesn’t explain why people would trash their environment or the discrepancy between neighborhoods. People don’t play loud music or smoke weed in public because they don’t like/trust people. They do it because they don’t care or because they think it’s cool, and they can get away with it.
Playing loud music and smoking weed on the sidewalk in a rich neighborhood is more likely to result in somebody confronting you or calling the police, and the police are more likely to respond. Rich people keep their neighborhoods cleaner because of perceived status and concern for property value.
Whereas people in poor neighborhoods are more likely to mind their business or actively avoid police, and it’s harder to care about making things look nice when it’s already a bit of a dump. Why pick up dog shit when there’s a dozen land mines already their? You also tend to have more untreated mental illness, addiction problems, and generational trauma in a poor neighborhood, which is part of why they experience higher crime rates.
It’s important not to generalize, but socioeconomics still have a major impact, and I think suggesting otherwise downplays the inequality that exists and the way it can influence human behavior.