Understanding Inequality

Economic disparity is the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunity between different groups vis., Society, ethnic group, community or a country.

Inequalities are pronounced to this day in the form of economic, social, cultural, ethnic and gendered previlage vs deprivation. Various reports including the Human development report, world inequality report etc., capture the larger picture in the status of economic inequality on a global scale. Approximately, top one percent of the population hold 50 percent of the global wealth.

Economic disparity - implications:

Let's ask some questions to understand this better.

1. What happens if the top one percent hold large portions of wealth?

It means, while a kid cries for food, another one owns a personal iPad. While a girl struggles to go to school, another boy affords a medical seat in top notch college with zero merit.

While elections seem to offer fair chance to every citizen, the rich can bribe anything and get to the top.

In a society with stark disparities, slums are hidden behind large walls while all the affluence goes into constructing statues and temples, bascially, symbols of pride.

In such a society, right to elect is a joke, democracy a farce and equal opportunity a myth.

2. What is the single most factor to identify inequality?

We can improve something only if we understand and measure it aptly. There are many indices that measure economic inequality in terms of income, education access to health etc., Governments use these measures to tacle inequality.

For our understanding,

-what does inequality mean?

-Is it the income disparity between you and your neighbour?

-Is it the wealth difference between your maid and you or you and the capitalist class?

-Is it the extra apple that a brother gets vis a vis his elder sister?

-Is it the decision making power many Indian men have vis a vis women of a household?

-Is it the social acceptance (respect) to an upper caste Hindu vis a vis,

a Dalit?

And it continues.

So, how can we comprehend inequality?

Inequality can be better understood by viewing it as access to opportunity. An ideal, equal society has equal access to opportunity.

A rich son of an upper caste business woman, and a poor daughter of a dalit hawker should have an equal chance of getting into a college based purely on merit.

But in a given society, with deep rooted, mutually reinforcing inequalities, without any interference, can there be an equal society?

Vipanchi

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