I recently indulged on a Sunday afternoon and binge watched several hours of Master Classes. Master Class, for those who don’t know, is a Netflix-like streaming service, where, instead of movies and television series, you can binge watch lectures delivered by some of the world’s best and brightest.
Somewhere in between learning how to do an ollie from Tony Hawk and learning about “tactical empathy” from Chris Voss, I found myself watching a video featuring Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize winning economist. The title of the video caught my attention, “Inequality: Our Divided Society.” In the video, Krugman attempts to explain the reasons for income inequality in our society and offers ways in which individuals can advocate for justice.
If I have to think about the greatest challenges facing humanity today, I think the greatest is climate change (which threatens everything from biodiversity to food availability), but a close second challenge is inequality. In fact, I’d argue that obscene disparities of wealth contribute to the slow-moving train wreck that has been our global response to climate change.
Inequality impacts society as a whole. If you cannot pay for food, you’ll be undernourished and also limited in your ability to excel in other areas of your life. Children who suffer from food insecurity face ongoing challenges in their future success later in life. Researchers have found that food insecurity is correlated with poor academic outcomes in children. If you cannot pay for health care, you’ll delay seeking care until your disease has progressed to a point that it is untreatable, or to a point where only palliative care is possible. If you cannot pay for shelter, you’ll be homeless, and suffer all the indignities, and health challenges that homelessness brings. If you cannot pay for education, you’ll either be undereducated and lose out on opportunities, or you’ll be a life-long indentured servant to your college student debt. Even those who don’t suffer the most extreme consequences of inequality in our society, suffer from ongoing stress of precarity. Many don’t have enough savings to make it through one major emergency, much less a 9-month long (and counting) pandemic. Many are uncertain about job stability. Many are not making enough money to make ends meet.
Paul Krugman, in his lesson on inequality, attempts to explain the growing disparity of wealth in America. Krugman opens his lecture by explaining that “economists don’t necessarily understand everything that’s going on,” when noting that economists don’t always have easy answers for why income inequality exists to the degree it does. Krugman cites technological advancements, globalization (the loss of blue-collar jobs due to imports from China), and changes to “institutions and social norms” as some of the reasons why inequality exists.
Krugman notes that changes in technology and trade are not sufficient to explain income inequality. He believes that social norms and politics drive inequality. Most notably, the decline of unions has contributed to vast disparities of wealth between worker pay and CEO pay.
Inequality is a problem and it is not just an economic problem. Krugman explains that income and wealth inequality drives government dysfunction. When it comes to wealth disparity and politics, “the center cannot hold” to quote the great poet, W.B. Yeats. Research reveals that periods of greatest income inequality in America correlated to periods of greatest partisanship and divided government in America.
What is the path to reducing wealth and income inequality? Krugman believes that policy change is key. He notes that “you can’t rely upon markets to deliver justice.”
So, given that change needs to occur on a political level, what are some things we can advocate for?
- Improve the social safety net. Make sure the food stamps program (WIC) actually covers real food costs (right now, it doesn’t), and make sure that every person who is facing food insecurity has access to the program. Make sure that people have access to affordable health care. A medical bill shouldn’t ruin you financially, and health insurance shouldn’t take up a significant portion of a family’s earnings. Every other wealthy country in the world guarantees people basic health care services. Finally, ensure that everyone has a right to shelter. We need affordable housing; that is, housing costs need to reflect the minimum wage. And if housing costs don’t reflect the minimum wage, either rent needs to be capped or the minimum wage needs to go up.
- Fight for higher minimum wage and advocate for unions and collective bargaining. Again, the minimum wage needs to reflect the cost of living. Krugman notes that if you care about equality, you should be advocating for workers’ rights to unionize.
How do these policy changes get implemented in a divided government? People need to demand a representative democracy.
Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, even though a majority of voters support Democrats. Democrats represent more voters in the Senate, but they are still outnumbered by Republicans who represent fewer voters. Five times in U.S. history, the U.S. president lost the popular vote, but still won the election due to the Electoral College. We deserve better. Putting an end to gerrymandering is one start, but the solution may involve a restructuring of the Senate to better reflect the population it represents.
Perhaps the real solution to inequality would involve finding unity in our deeply divided country.
Unionization works because workers band together and strike. Essential workers keep this country running. Statistics indicate that about 52% of Americans cannot make ends meet. That’s a majority of the country. A country divided protects the oligarchy (power by the wealthy) because a divided country will never band together for collective justice. It is in the interests of the top 1% that people remain divided. I wonder what would happen if the majority struggling to make ends meet joined forces and went on strike (joined also by allies interested in a more equal and just society). What would happen if all us struggling with health care bills, food insecurity, crushing student loan debt, and those of us living paycheck to paycheck said enough was enough?
About the Writer
Janice Greenwood is a writer, surfer, and poet. She holds an M.F.A. in poetry and creative writing from Columbia University.