Wealth and Inequality - Essay Example

Wealth and Inequality OUTLINE The contemporary world witnesses the unequal distribution of wealth in every region and area at large; consequently, a very small proportion of society enjoys the possession of large part of the opportunities and resources. It has created gulf among social classes, which seem to be under the situation of unannounced state of grave conflict, and even may assume the form of serious clashes and civil war eventually. Racial, ethnic, religious and professional rivalries and jealousies have augmented class discrimination, and haves and haves-not observe enormous gulf between them. Hence, taking apposite measures immediately for the eradication of continuously increasing socioeconomic abyss appears to be the need of the hour, which could be performed by including the suppressed and oppressed stratum of society in nation-building programs, so that the society could be protected from becoming the prey to the severe anguish, hatred and bloodshed among the citizens for the future years to come. Before the French revolution, ninety-nine percent of the French population died of hunger and starvation, while remaining one expired due to over digestion. (Mahajan, 2002: 21) Thus, the authorities should move swiftly in order to introduce and implement socioeconomic schemes for the uplift of the poor and down-trodden masses in order to avoid the revolution the world has already observed in the form of French Revolution 1789, Iranian Revolution of 1979, and several other rebellions and revolts. The Paper Wealth serves as one of the most significant social phenomena, which helps the people get involved into the odds and ends of life by purchasing the commodities of their needs and choice, as well as by selling different commodities or offering their services against the wealth in order to keep the wolf from the door on the one hand, and for leading a comfortable and respectable life in society on the other. Since every human is directly or indirectly connected with financial activities, and strives in pursuit of earning more and more money and pecuniary gains, wealth has always been of vital importance in everyday individual and collective life. All that is because of the very reality that wealth decides and determines the status and position of individuals in a social hierarchy; it is therefore people seek professional education and learn technical skills, on the basis of which they work from dawn to dusk in various occupations in order to make both ends meet. However, they do not obtain the same amount of wealth according to the proportion of the efforts they make. Wealth is distributed less equally than labor income, total money income or consumption expenditure. While Gina coefficients in developed countries typically range between about 0.3 and 0.4 for income, they vary from about 0.5 to 0.9 for wealth. (Davies & Shamrocks, 1998) Thus, distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities has always been unjust, unequal and unfair since the known history of the social establishment. Inequality of wealth and opportunities is not confined to developing countries only. On the contrary, the developed western states are also undergoing the same problem within their social establishment. Both income inequality and the poverty headcount have risen over the past two decades. The increase is fairly widespread, affecting two-thirds of all countries. Income inequality has risen significantly since 2000 in Canada, Germany, Norway, the United States, Italy, and Finland, and declined in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Greece and Australia. (OECD, 2008) Taking the example of the US society, it becomes crystal clear that on the one side, the wealthiest business tycoons and entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Sheldon Adelson and others are leading the affluent and luxurious life, and on the other side, one sixth of the total population is living under the UN determined poverty line. Not only this that all social classes have their valuable share and contribution in the progress and growth of an economy, but also the middle and lower strata appear to be far more productive in the development of industrial units, estates, business schemes and commercial activities. Warren (2004) declares middle class of society as the most influential in respect of financial, cultural and political shaping of the US society by dint of its constant toil, imitation of values, norms, customs and traditions and abiding by the statutes of prevailing law of the country. Somehow, middle class is not invited and included in the policy making activities, which turns out to be the serious hurdle on the way to quick and collective uplift of the US society. Hence, providing the middle class with brighter chances of earning would not only eliminate conflict between various social classes, but also it would pave the way towards the eradication of racial, ethnic and religious differences from the US society at large. Technological advancements and taxation system also maintain their contributions in the unequal distribution of wealth in society. Though freedom of thought in the aftermath of inclusion of several media platforms as well as active watch made by civil society has intruded various checks on exploitation of the individuals, yet it is print and electronic media that is responsible for shaping the minds of people towards their political and social choices, and thus creating anarchical situation in the name of awareness. Thus, instead of creating variety, the technological advancements are offering similarity in everything, which has given birth to uncertain political and financial state of affairs. The initial distribution of the capital stock and the available technology play a crucial role in determining whether the middle class’s political preferences are aligned with either those of the upper or those of the lower class. (Gr€uner & Schils, 2007) Consequently, the capitalistic societies support investors, entrepreneurs and industrialists in respect of multiplying their wealth and income, in comparison with the middle and lower classes, which have lesser chances of growth and thus lag far behind them in respect of making financial growth. It is therefore Marxists always criticize industrialization and capitalism, both of which are responsible for the miserable lot of the middle and lower strata. Thus class struggle is always the outcome of atrocities and cruelties inflicted by the rich stratum upon the poor and down-trodden individuals. Lockwood insists on the presence of some mechanism in all societies resulting in inexorable conflict among its individuals.” (Porter, 1997) The theorists, intellectuals and philosophers blame social injustices and inequalities as the root-cause behind the expansion of terrorism in the world. They cite Marxist perspective that declares conflict between haves and haves-not as the by-product of chaos, confusion and anarchical state of affairs in human societies. The theorists are of the opinion that rejection of granting opportunities, resources and privileges to the developing countries is creating frustration in the minds of the masses, which always results in the form of violent reaction to the injustices and inequalities observed and promoted by the elite stratum of society on the one hand, and the powerful states of the world on the other. It is therefore celebrated German philosopher, intellectual and socialist thinker Karl Marx demands apposite remuneration and respectable place for the working classes or proletariat. Marx lauded the basic premise that the labor was the source of all wealth, and the profit of the capitalist was based on the exploitation of the laborers. The capitalists performed the rather simple trick of paying the workers less than they deserved, because they received less pay than the value of what they actually produced in a work period. (Ritzer & Goodman, 2003) Capitalistic economic system prevails in major parts of the world, and is eventually regulating the large economies, where big investors and entrepreneurs are becoming richer and richer, while the managers, teachers, workers and laborers find themselves at a perplexed state of affairs. At this precarious socioeconomic situation, the responsibility goes to the authorities for making laws and implementing them regarding the increase in salaries, pays and wages at higher proportion, so that the lower classes could be protected from low life standard on the one hand, and becoming the prey to hunger, starvation, criminal activities and psychological disorder on the other. If a large part of a country remains poor and unstable, the entire progress made by the economy is sure to collapse because of class conflict and deprivation. Works Cited Davies, James B. & Shamrocks, Anthony F. “The Distribution of Wealth” 1998 2 Retrieved from http://darp.lse.ac.uk/papersdb/Davies-Shorrocks_(Handbook_Income_Distribution_00).puff Porter, Jene M “Classics in Political Philosophy” Second Edition Prentice Hall Canada Inc. 1997 356-- 429 Ritzer, George & Goodman, Douglas “Classical Sociological Theory” Fourth Edition McGraw Hill Publishing Company 2003 20-51 Warren, Elizabeth. “The Economics of Race: When making it to the Middle is not enough” Washington & Lee Law Review Fall 2004 1778-79 Gr€uner, Hans Peter & Schils, R€udiger “The Political Economy of Wealth and Interest” The Economic Journal, 117 (October), Royal Economic Society Blackwell Publishing 2007 1403–1422 Growing Unequal? : Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries– ISBN 978-92-64-044180-0© OECD 2008 Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/42/41527936.pdf Read More