The various views of inequality are intimately related to policy, programs, and goals. A true believer in the functional model will view social disorder and unrest as deviant actions, whereas a proponent of conflict perspective will view disorder and unrest as expected reactions from dominated groups. In the past, government policy went against racial groups. The current American dilemma is that there is no significant change in our racial stratification system and inequality. Individualism supports the notion that anybody can make it, whatever the circumstances, if only one would put forth effort.
Fundamentalism encourages a belief that the world is divided into sinners and the saved.
Individualism, central to the American value system, provides a strong source of resistance to the American commitment to racial equality. Moralism divides the world into the deserving and the undeserving. Wilson notes that to effectively address inequality we must construct programs where the more advantaged groups of all races can also see benefits. McGahey and Jeffries posit an assumption that economic growth will provide the answer to minority group problems, but even with the growth of the economy in the last several decades, the economic situation of minorities, especially Blacks, has continued to deteriorate. The one goal that seems the most feasible, but has the least amount of support, is direct income stabilization.