I suspect that “outsiders” form a bigger part of the overall demand than you think, and that the business transfers considerable(1) amounts of currency to the inner cities from places like Wall Street and Hollywood (and other more affluent areas). Which isn’t to say that it’s not part of the structures keeping the underclass down(2); it’s possible to be dependent for one’s livelihood on things that are bad for you.
(1) considerable by inner city standards, much less so by Wall Street standards
(2) I’m not sure to what extent we should view society as “keeping the underclass down” vs. “trying, and mostly failing, to lift the underclass up”. Your points about the Nixon-era policies are taken, but that was 50 years ago and only part of the story.
I suspect that “outsiders” form a bigger part of the overall demand than you think, and that the business transfers considerable(1) amounts of currency to the inner cities from places like Wall Street and Hollywood (and other more affluent areas). Which isn’t to say that it’s not part of the structures keeping the underclass down(2); it’s possible to be dependent for one’s livelihood on things that are bad for you.
(1) considerable by inner city standards, much less so by Wall Street standards
(2) I’m not sure to what extent we should view society as “keeping the underclass down” vs. “trying, and mostly failing, to lift the underclass up”. Your points about the Nixon-era policies are taken, but that was 50 years ago and only part of the story.