Photo by Elyse Chia<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Is the inequality existing fair, because it results from legal processes and fair competition? This is a question often doubted by people, after the world\u2019s ten richest men increased their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion during the pandemic while the incomes of 99% of humanity have fallen (Oxfam, 2022)<\/p>\n My answer is no, because there is no \u201cfair competition\u201d. Inherited wealth, birth location, gender\/race differences\u2026 none of those factors is fair. When you look at the Forbes World\u2019s Billionaires List, you might think that they made their way to be on that list through their own efforts. But in fact, many \u201cself-made\u201d billionaires had family backups. For example, Elon Musk\u2019s dad owned an emerald mine in South Africa, while Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, started his legend with $300,000 in\u00a0seed capital from his parents.<\/p>\n First of all, the idea of \u201cfair competition\u201d is a strategy of the capitalists to mask the innate gap between different classes, to weaken the \u201ccollective consciousness\u201d (what Carl Marx mentioned in the theory of class conflict) of the working class, consolidating their own political and economic position. For example, the idea of the\u00a0\u201cAmerican dream\u201d emphasised meritocracy and individualism: everyone has equal chances for success based on individual effort and talent. This clearly downplayed the natural-born barriers of lower classes that shape life chances. By spreading this idea of \u201cfairness competition\u201d, they created a situation where somebody unsatisfied with their current income level, will tend to think this is because they are not making enough effort, rather than noticing the impact of class differences.<\/p>\n A classic example of\u00a0those ignored barriers is that wealth can be gained by inherited assets. For example, someone who inherited two houses can rent them out to earn money, without making an\u00a0effort to go to work, while the renters need to work to pay the rent. In this case, the owner of the houses is the one who earns more, while paying less effort compared to the renters. This shows that the theory of \u201cwealth=effort\u201d is a false proposition. In this aspect, propaganda like the American Dream emphasising fairness is indeed just a dream.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s never been equality for me,<\/p>\n Nor freedom in this \u2018homeland of the free.<\/p>\n The millions who have nothing for our pay\u2014<\/p>\n Except the dream that’s almost dead today.”<\/p>\n —Let America Be America Again,<\/strong>\u00a0Langston Hughes<\/p>\n As for \u201clegal processes\u201d that aided this inequality, they can hardly be called \u201cfair\u201d either, as the billionaires\u2019 economic power can be transferred into political power, to make \u201clegal processes\u201d work for their interests. As sociologist Miliband (1987) said, the \u201cpower elites\u201d,\u00a0i.e. those who hold economic and political power, are \u201cusually remained sufficiently cohesive to ensure that their common purposes are effectively defended.\u201d A current example perfectly shows the influence of economic power on politics: Musk giving $1m to some US voters. See more in this article: Is Musk’s $1m-a-day cash giveaway to US voters legal? – BBC News<\/a><\/p>\n Lastly, some may say that existing inequality is fair because although the income gap between the rich and poor widened,\u00a0it helps to reduce global poverty and poor people also benefit. However, even if the society\u2019s income level is improving, inequality has more negative impacts on the relatively poorer members of society. Studies by Wilkinson and Pickett showed that social problems they examined are more prevalent in more unequal societies. These problems all have a \u201csocial gradient\u201d, which means that the poorer members of societies experience them more. \u201cGradients in health and social problems reflect social status differences in culture and behaviour\u201d, and \u201cmaterial inequality is probably central to those differences.\u201d (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010). The effect of social gradient due to inequality is independent of the effects of poverty. One evidence of this is the climate issues: rich people contribute more to greenhouse gas emissions and\u00a0suffer less from it than poor children living close to a working mineral mine: in 2019, the top 10% of\u00a0richest men solely emitted 48% of the total greenhouse gases (Chancel, 2022).<\/p>\n So, there is no way to say that the existing inequality is fair: it is not a result of \u201cfair competition\u201d or \u201clegal processes\u201d, and it created more negative impacts on poorer members of society. Together, we can make a change to inequality, but we need to know why it needs to be changed first—- and that is the single purpose of this blog.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.oxfam.org.uk\/mc\/np588q\/<\/p>\n Let America Be America Again | The Poetry Foundation<\/a> https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/147907\/let-america-be-america-again<\/p>\n Is Musk’s $1m-a-day cash giveaway to US voters legal? – BBC News<\/a><\/p>\n [Giddens, A. & Turner, J.H. (1987) Social Theory Today, Chapter 10 \u2018Class Analysis\u2019 by Miliband, R. pp. 325-346] https:\/\/read.kortext.com\/reader\/pdf-file\/5b5ee4c5-0916-4d41-bf86-5085bfb038a0\/8<\/a><\/p>\n [Wilkinson, R. & Pickett, K. (2010) The spirit level: why equality is better for everyone pp.26-29] https:\/\/read.kortext.com\/reader\/pdf-file\/0bca86b9-d993-453e-8306-e6e1ca21d4ab\/2<\/a><\/p>\n Chancel, L. Global carbon inequality over 1990\u20132019.\u00a0Nat Sustain<\/em>\u00a05<\/strong>, 931\u2013938 (2022). https:\/\/rdcu.be\/dYMc4<\/a> DOI: <\/strong>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41893-022-00955-z<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.0.106″ in_same_term=”off” show_prev=”on” show_next=”on” prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.0.106″ show_avatar=”on” show_reply=”on” show_count=”on” background_layout=”light” header_font_size_tablet=”51″ header_line_height_tablet=”2″ custom_button=”on” button_icon_placement=”right” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_use_icon=”off” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_size__hover=”null” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover=”null” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover=”null” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” 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background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n +44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Find Us Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Address” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_id=”address” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n The University of Manchester [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Connect Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” 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This is a question often doubted by people, after the world\u2019s ten richest men increased their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion during the pandemic while the incomes of 99% of humanity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1193,"featured_media":4746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Article by Yuyang Ren<\/strong><\/p> Photo by Elyse Chia<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p> \u00a0<\/p> Is the inequality existing fair, because it results from legal processes and fair competition? This is a question often doubted by people, after the world\u2019s ten richest men increased their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion during the pandemic while the incomes of 99% of humanity have fallen (Oxfam, 2022)<\/p> My answer is no, because there is no \u201cfair competition\u201d. Inherited wealth, birth location, gender\/race differences\u2026 none of those factors is fair. When you look at the Forbes World\u2019s Billionaires List, you might think that they made their way to be on that list through their own efforts. But in fact, many \u201cself-made\u201d billionaires had family backups. For example, Elon Musk\u2019s dad owned an emerald mine in South Africa, while Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, started his legend with $300,000 in\u00a0seed capital from his parents.<\/p> First of all, the idea of \u201cfair competition\u201d is a strategy of the capitalists to mask the innate gap between different classes, to weaken the \u201ccollective consciousness\u201d (what Carl Marx mentioned in the theory of class conflict) of the working class, consolidating their own political and economic position. For example, the idea of the\u00a0\u201cAmerican dream\u201d emphasised meritocracy and individualism: everyone has equal chances for success based on individual effort and talent. This clearly downplayed the natural-born barriers of lower classes that shape life chances. By spreading this idea of \u201cfairness competition\u201d, they created a situation where somebody unsatisfied with their current income level, will tend to think this is because they are not making enough effort, rather than noticing the impact of class differences.<\/p> A classic example of\u00a0those ignored barriers is that wealth can be gained by inherited assets. For example, someone who inherited two houses can rent them out to earn money, without making an\u00a0effort to go to work, while the renters need to work to pay the rent. In this case, the owner of the houses is the one who earns more, while paying less effort compared to the renters. This shows that the theory of \u201cwealth=effort\u201d is a false proposition. In this aspect, propaganda like the American Dream emphasising fairness is indeed just a dream.<\/p> \u201cThere's never been equality for me,<\/p> Nor freedom in this \u2018homeland of the free.<\/p> The millions who have nothing for our pay\u2014<\/p> Except the dream that's almost dead today.\"<\/p> ---Let America Be America Again,<\/strong>\u00a0Langston Hughes<\/p> As for \u201clegal processes\u201d that aided this inequality, they can hardly be called \u201cfair\u201d either, as the billionaires\u2019 economic power can be transferred into political power, to make \u201clegal processes\u201d work for their interests. As sociologist Miliband (1987) said, the \u201cpower elites\u201d,\u00a0i.e. those who hold economic and political power, are \u201cusually remained sufficiently cohesive to ensure that their common purposes are effectively defended.\u201d A current example perfectly shows the influence of economic power on politics: Musk giving $1m to some US voters. See more in this article: Is Musk's $1m-a-day cash giveaway to US voters legal? - BBC News<\/a><\/p> Lastly, some may say that existing inequality is fair because although the income gap between the rich and poor widened,\u00a0it helps to reduce global poverty and poor people also benefit. However, even if the society\u2019s income level is improving, inequality has more negative impacts on the relatively poorer members of society. Studies by Wilkinson and Pickett showed that social problems they examined are more prevalent in more unequal societies. These problems all have a \u201csocial gradient\u201d, which means that the poorer members of societies experience them more. \u201cGradients in health and social problems reflect social status differences in culture and behaviour\u201d, and \u201cmaterial inequality is probably central to those differences.\u201d (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010). The effect of social gradient due to inequality is independent of the effects of poverty. One evidence of this is the climate issues: rich people contribute more to greenhouse gas emissions and\u00a0suffer less from it than poor children living close to a working mineral mine: in 2019, the top 10% of\u00a0richest men solely emitted 48% of the total greenhouse gases (Chancel, 2022).<\/p> So, there is no way to say that the existing inequality is fair: it is not a result of \u201cfair competition\u201d or \u201clegal processes\u201d, and it created more negative impacts on poorer members of society. Together, we can make a change to inequality, but we need to know why it needs to be changed first---- and that is the single purpose of this blog.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> References:<\/p> https:\/\/www.oxfam.org.uk\/mc\/np588q\/<\/p> Let America Be America Again | The Poetry Foundation<\/a> https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/147907\/let-america-be-america-again<\/p> Is Musk's $1m-a-day cash giveaway to US voters legal? - BBC News<\/a><\/p> [Giddens, A. & Turner, J.H. (1987) Social Theory Today, Chapter 10 \u2018Class Analysis\u2019 by Miliband, R. pp. 325-346] https:\/\/read.kortext.com\/reader\/pdf-file\/5b5ee4c5-0916-4d41-bf86-5085bfb038a0\/8<\/a><\/p> [Wilkinson, R. & Pickett, K. (2010) The spirit level: why equality is better for everyone pp.26-29] https:\/\/read.kortext.com\/reader\/pdf-file\/0bca86b9-d993-453e-8306-e6e1ca21d4ab\/2<\/a><\/p>Related<\/h1>\n
Related posts:<\/h3>
An Apple a Day Keeps Inequality Away: The Relationship Between Health and Inequality<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
The Misrepresentation of Africa by the Media<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
The Great British Myth: The Illusion of Meritocracy and the Persistence of Privilege<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
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