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How Economic Inequality Harms Societies

Regions that are characterized by large economic gaps between the poor and wealthy face more social, political and economic challengesthat communities with less inequality. The French revolution in the eighteenth century is a clear indication of the negative impacts of economic disparity. Richard Wilkinson in his presentation, “How Economic Inequality Harms Societies,” presents analytical data that proves economic inequality bears detrimental effects in a society. According to his data, the gross domestic product per capita in a country does not guarantee a country’s overall success as long as income inequality prevails. He uses various visualization diagrams to illustrate research conducted in different parts of the world.

Research studies conducted by social psychologists reveal that when people are under pressure of being negatively judged by other parties, also referred to as social-evaluative threats, the situation triggers the stress hormone called cortisol. Economic disparity brings about segregation based on socio-economic status. This explains why countries with high economic imbalance experience high cases of behavioral and mental health disorders, high crime rate, violence and unhealthy competition among members of the society. It is evident that economic inequality does not only affect the poor people but also the few wealthy individuals in society.Other health and social issues associated with income inequality include high child death rates, low life span, obesity, and teenage pregnancies.

According to Wilkinson’s data, Sweden and Japan are the few nations reported to have the lowest economic disparity. They both employ different techniques to tackle economic inequality. The economic differences between different regions and families in Sweden are very large, but it manages to minimize the gap through the implementation of tax policies and the provision of welfare services to the poor. Whereas the Japanese government imposes low tax rates and cuts on social services provided to the people because the economic gap is narrow as compared to Sweden. The same scenario can be seen in the various states in America. States with high-income potential are taxed heavily while other states with minimal income survive on government transfers and income redistribution programs.

Quotes

More unequal societies are more likely also to retain the death penalty (7:14)

We can improve the real quality of human life by reducing the differences in incomes between us (16:03)

Works Cited Wilkinson, Richard. "How economic inequality harms societies." TED Talk, http://ted. com/talks/richard_wilkinson (2011).