tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post523485769356607831..comments2023-12-13T05:02:37.426-05:00Comments on Pushed to the Left and Loving It: How Mike Duffy Forced me to Listen to Noam ChomskyEmily Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08354341672810615468noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post-50681080001277316622010-11-20T15:30:06.853-05:002010-11-20T15:30:06.853-05:00Another great piece, thanks E!Another great piece, thanks E!Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322535853536614682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post-16751245663226259772010-11-20T15:11:46.861-05:002010-11-20T15:11:46.861-05:00These two British academics argue that almost ever...These two British academics argue that almost every social problem, from crime to obesity, stems from one root cause: inequality.<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/mar/12/equality-british-society<br /><br />And, they say, it's not just the deprived underclass that loses out in an unequal society: everyone does, even the better off.<br /><br />Because it's not absolute levels of poverty that create the social problems, but the differentials in income between rich and poor.<br /><br />The US is wealthier and spends more on health care than any other country, yet a baby born in Greece, where average income levels are about half that of the US, has a lower risk of infant mortality and longer life expectancy than an American baby.<br /><br />"It became clear," Wilkinson says, "that countries such as the US, the UK and Portugal, where the top 20% earn seven, eight or nine times more than the lowest 20%, scored noticeably higher on all social problems at every level of society than in countries such as Sweden and Japan, where the differential is only two or three times higher at the top."<br /><br />What is it about unequal societies that causes the damage? Wilkinson believes the answer lies in the psycho-social areas of hierarchy and status. The greater the differential between the haves and have-nots, the greater importance everyone places on the material aspects of consumption; what brand of car you drive carries far more meaning in a more hierarchical society than in a flatter one. It's the knock-on effects of this status anxiety that finds socially corrosive expression in crime, ill-health and mistrust.<br /><br />Reducing inequality fits in with the environmental agenda; it benefits the developing world, as more equal societies give more in overseas aid; and most significantly, everyone is fed up with the corporate greed and bonus culture that have caused the current financial crisis, so if ever a government had the electorate's goodwill to act, it's now."Nadine Lumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05591663475427502169noreply@blogger.com