Income Inequality

It is true that the United States, the countries of Europe, Japan, Australia and a few others enjoy a standard of living and a degree of comfort that is unparalleled in the history of the human race. So it’s probably not surprising that many think the citizens of these countries have it made in the shade, and if they don’t it must be their own damned fault. But some of these countries have serious social problems, and it turns out, the greater the income inequality directly corresponds to higher levels of misery.

Infant mortality, life expectancy, teen pregnancy, drug addiction, mental illness, homelessness, crime and incarceration rates, these things are serious problems no matter if there is a lot of money floating around in the country in question. Many talk about how their parents and grandparents lived through the Great Depression and managed to live decent lives with far less. The difference is poverty was common, and there wasn’t so much income inequality. Some might have been a little better off than others, but few were wildly and insanely better off. If you saw someone with holes in their shoes, you felt for them. You knew you might have to wear shoes with holes in them soon. Most couldn’t afford to look down on someone with holes in their shoes.

If all the kids in the neighborhood get an orange and a modest gift on Christmas everyone is happy. But if a significant number get a truckload of gifts, and a few get a lot of gifts plus a trip to Disneyland and a pony, the kid with the orange is not only going to feel cheated, the other kids are going to treat him or her differently. The status of the kid with the orange has been lowered, and this will eventually lead to pathology.

The United States is the worst in regards to income inequality, and our social ills are the greatest as a result. Yet many continue to blame the poor. Many who are struggling to maintain some semblance of middle-class comfort blame the poor. They know they’re working hard and not getting ahead. They know they could end up applying for food stamps or a housing subsidy themselves, yet they still blame the poor. Then they go and vote Republican like brain dead zombies.