I agree with you that Gans' is making a mockery of the people whom stereotype the poor and make them out to be the problems of society. I also agree with him that the poor serve a function in our society and that most of the time it is not a very pleasant one, like doing all the grunt work and taking the embarrassment of society's blame. I hate the fact that people have to be subjected to that kind of treatment for something that most of the time they cannot help. Everyone has their own set of values and to start judging a group people as the "dregs of society" is just not right. I think that people on a whole, whether in a bad situation or not, try to make the best out of their situation and do what they feel is right.