Reverend Coffin talks about violence in America. Centuries ago the rags to riches dream was a possibility in the United States. However, now there is no more free land and our resources are becoming limited, so it is increasingly difficult for poor people to improve their standing. This human degradation can cause as much misery as human deprivation. Violence in the slums has become an increasing problem. Poverty is now considered a public crime rather than a private tragedy, and the impoverished respond to this public crime with violence and riots. To begin to address the problem, don't ask who starts the riots, but rather, why was there a reason to riot in the first place?