Lewis contended that the cultural similarities occurred because they were "common adaptations to common problems" and that "the culture of poverty is both an adaptation and a reaction of the poor classes to their marginal position in a class-stratified, highly individualistic, capitalistic society."
ルイスは、文化的相似性は、「共通の問題への共通の適応策 (common adaptations to common problems)」に由来し、「貧困の文化は、階級構造化され、高度に個人主義化された資本主義的社会の中で、貧困階級が、周縁化された彼らの位置付けを受容しつつも抵抗したものでもある (the culture of poverty is both an adaptation and a reaction of the poor classes to their marginal position in a class-stratified, highly individualistic, capitalistic society)」と主張した。