Josh Marshall: It's actually kind of brave of him going to a PBA and saying Irish and Italians suck. LOL!

[EYESORE 9001]

13. Ethnicity is not the root cause. Poverty is.

The ethnicity is irrelevant. He claims to know all about Appalachia, so he should recognize that as an ‘ethnic enclave’ as well. One could accidentally stumble upon illegal activities of various types and get fed to the hogs by sunrise. Root cause, again, is poverty. People at the bottom of whatever ‘hierarchy of needs’ pyramid you cite are trying to meet basic survival needs, and if that means turning to crime, then people will do what’s necessary to survive. Where shadypants only saw violent ethnic gangs, he must have missed depictions of abject poverty, hopelessness, and desperation.