Are Conor's feelings of blame and contempt of lower classes shared to this day? How are they evident in society?

While Conor's reaction to the ways those below "his station" live is very extreme, are his feelings of blame and contempt of lower classes shared to this day? How are they evident in society?

Unfortunately, there are people who still think this way. Conor had in his mind that the lower class slum people were not upstanding citizens/God following people. He thought he was doing right by God to abolish them.

Today, we still see people take these matters into their own hands (hate crimes, religious crimes, etc).

Conor's beliefs and attitude are still very prevalent today, which is a shame. I think there is still a great deal of misunderstanding about poverty, with people being blamed for being poor or not having a strong work ethic when the real causes are much more complex. Religious bigotry so often seems to be entwined with these attitudes. To me, Conor seems to have a lot of self-hatred that was projected on to the people he encountered and provided him with a very warped sense of justice.

I believe so. I live in a major metropolitan area with a substantial homeless population and the way some people treat the homeless is unconscionable. Some people can help their situation, but many can't. And I feel society has an obligation to take care of the less fortunate among us. It doesn't have to be a "hand out," just a "hand up."

To this day people with similar beliefs that Conor posed the poor and underprivileged are to blame for their own station in life and not having a strong work ethic. As others have said these people need support to rise up out of their current economic status.

Most definitely. I agree with all of the comments so far, unfortunately. I guess that people still need to feel superior to someone/something and as long as that attitude prevails, it will continue.

Unfortunately, yes. Work harder and pull yourself up by the boot strap mentality is still alive and strong. I don't know one successful person that didn't get to the top without help, yet for some reason this attitude persists.

Oh boy! There was such a social class imbalance during the Gilded Ages! You were either born with a silver spoon in your mouth, or you were doing everything you were told to do—work hard, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, make yourself better! How frustrating to be working non stop and never getting ahead and being vilefied at the same time. This definitely has not changed in my opinion. Instead of looking at how hard someone is working for his or her family, there are those who want to refuse a decent wage because those jobs were never intended to be for 30+ year old people! There are a lot of assumptions made about the working poor and those living in poverty. And they are judged relentlessly, even for items that they put in their shopping carts. Middle class and wealthy people don’t have to deal with landlords who won’t care for a property, trying to find transportation to take you to a job, lack of internet services, not having your own washer and dryer, and finding affordable/accessible childcare so you can take that McDonald’s job. People are blamed and then accused of wanting to take what other’s have.(Recently, this has been evident in all the cries of socialism.) Corporations and the wealthy expect tax breaks and tax cuts, and then begrudge an extension of the child tax credit.

I agree with everything that acstrine said. Conor's feelings of contempt for the poor and uneducated are just as common today in our politically divided society. Even worse, the feelings between the haves and the have nots have evolved into protests and all too common violence

I agree with the previous comments. People haven't changed over the years. We still have prejudices and unfounded beliefs. It is ironic that those that study and quote the Bible do not really follow Christian values. They do not believe in freedom of religion.
Many people blame others for their misfortune or societies problems. I don't have hope this will change any time soon.

Previous comments state many true realities. There was, and always will be, many who believe that if you are not self-sufficient and successful, you are lazy and deserve nothing from others. This belief is usually challenged when they actually meet people in such circumstances, discover how they found themselves there and learn about the barriers that prevent them from rising above poverty.
But few make the effort to learn. That people can see children living in the street, selling newspapers or their bodies and think that is ok is beyond me.
I agree with nanb5013 that, although all religions preach charity and helping one's fellow man, many people of faith ignore that teaching - viciously!
Conor seems like a character full of self hatred, and it manifests itself by turning this hatred outward. He probably came form a very poor family that he is ashamed of, and seems angry but also likes to feel superior. And that makes him very dangerous!

There are people today that show contempt or blame for those of lower class. They may think they are lazy and don't want to work. There are sociopaths who may feel they are helping the world by killing off a certain group of people, such as Trans or gays.

I agree with what everyone has said. It's sad that the sentiment is still so prevalent today. Several years back I heard Katherine Boo (author of BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS) speak. She said something that's stuck with me ever since and perhaps influences my writing. She was discussing this "pull yourself by the bootstraps" mentality that's so prevalent in our society and said, "suffering is not ennobling." Certainly in many cases, I agree.

Wow! Thanks for sharing Katherine Boo's quote. I agree with so many of the sentiments expressed about the lack of compassion and understanding. In my more generous moments, I think that Conor's sentiments are an expression of his own deep insecurity, but it is awfully hard to hear those views expressed. I would imagine the need to remove oneself from one's circumstances is even more acute the lower down the economic and social scale one is. The book does a really nice job of capturing some of the desperation of all the characters.