The violence of wealth and income inequality

With each passing year, wealth is becoming more concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals and corporations. It is estimated that by 2030, the richest 1% of the world will own two-thirds of the world’s wealth. And in a world dominated by money, wealth brings with it political influence and power, corruption of democracy, and perversion of policymaking.

The division between the rich and the rest, between rich nations and poor nations, is not a calm and quiet space. It is an extremely explosive cesspool, full of animosity and resentment, ready to explode at any moment. It is a space of violence.

Income and wealth inequality are deeply rooted forms of social injustice. They exist to varying degrees in every country in the world and are the inevitable consequence of an unjust and pervasive socio-economic ideology, neoliberalism.

The impacts

Inequality in the UK is high compared to other developed countries. According to the Equality Trust, the UK is the 9th most unequal country in terms of income among the 38 OECD countries. In 2022, the organisation reports that “households in the poorest 20% of the population had on average an equivalised disposable income of £13,218, while the richest 20% had £83,687”.

Shockingly enough, wealth inequality is even more stark, with the richest 20% “capturing… 63% of the nation’s wealth, while the poorest 20% hold only… 0.5%.” Only half a percent of the wealth, hard to fathom. And, if a recent report from the Fairness Foundation (FF) is accurate, levels of inequality in health, housing, poverty… are set to increase over the next five years.

Britain, the report states, “is a society suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by unfair inequalities – in wealth, income, health and education, and between regions and people of different ethnicities, genders, social classes and disabilities.”

The consequences of these inequalities for individuals and for society as a whole are serious and multiple. Countries with low inequality, such as the Scandinavian countries, are consistently seen as better places to live; people are more trusting of others and of the state, and crime is lower. Conversely, in countries with higher wealth and income inequality, people are more suspicious of others, especially those who do not look like them, think like them, or pray like them – foreigners, refugees, “the other”. Social tensions are higher, the general sense of well-being is lower, and mental health is worse.

Inequalities in wealth and income lead to inequalities in education, which in turn lead to inequalities in opportunity. The consequences are negative for the individual and for society as a whole.

Perhaps the most serious impact of inequality is the lack of peace, at the level of individuals, communities and countries. This is the result of social injustice, and all forms of inequality are unjust. There will never be peace as long as such extreme levels of injustice exist, and as long as “unjust inequality,” as the FF puts it, persists, not only will injustice continue, but as the extremes become more pronounced, as they must, injustice will intensify. As Pope Francis stated in 2013, “until exclusion and inequality in society and among peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence.”

Inequality is not only unfair, it is immoral, dangerous and violent, fueling extremism and terrorism. Moreover, it is simply unfair and prevents the realization of what FF calls the five “fair necessities”: fair basics, fair opportunities, fair rewards, fair exchanges and fair treatment.

Inequality is a major element in creating fertile ground for extremists of all kinds to exploit and for acts of violence, which in many cases constitute acts of terrorism.

In the UK, over the last eight years in particular, far-right views, on immigration policy for example, have entered the mainstream, distorting and poisoning the debate.

Brexit was a key moment in this national degradation. An absolute disaster for the country, voted for by uninformed and marginalised communities who bought into the lies of opportunistic and stupid politicians. Shabna Begum, chief executive of the Runnymede Trust (a think tank that claims to “speak truth to power on race and racism”), said of the threat from the far right: “Unless a new (Labour) government delivers rapid and meaningful change in tackling inequality, we will see far-right parties capitalising on desperation and becoming a real electoral threat.”

This is exactly what happened recently, when outright lies and incitement to violence by far-right agitators and right-wing politicians led to a week of riots in cities across the UK; riots that in many cases were labelled as terrorism.

The thugs waving flags and throwing bricks at the police were almost exclusively white, working-class men and boys, poorly educated and disadvantaged, with no reasoned political views, just a lot of anger and resentment. Very strong emotions, which are easily whipped up and focused by far-right voices spreading hate and misinformation; the target, as always seems to be the case, was the “other”, asylum seekers, refugees and Muslims, and “the state”, in the form of the police.

Anger and bitterness caused not by Muslims or asylum seekers, but by a range of social problems linked to injustice and inequality: poor housing, education and health care, lack of opportunities, unemployment, low wages and exploitation.

Social injustice, which breeds resentment and enables exploitation by extremists, cannot excuse racism and Islamophobia, but such horrific violence will never be eradicated as long as social injustice exists. It was not middle-class men and women from affluent suburbs who were abusing the police and threatening non-white asylum seekers.

Social justice and sharing

It is naive to believe that inequality can be eradicated, but it can be reduced; most people don’t want much. The focus should be on creating more equal societies, just and equitable societies, in which the quality of health care and education, access to opportunities, housing and the arts are not dependent on wealth.

Redistribution or sharing is the key to a socially just world. On a global scale, this means sharing the planet’s resources more fairly, based on need rather than ability to pay. On a national scale, it means sharing the country’s wealth more fairly, avoiding colossal concentrations of wealth held by ever fewer individuals and corporations.

All this requires the adoption of economic and social policies that stem from a change in attitudes and priorities, a move away from nationalism, competition and division, towards cooperation, social responsibility and unity. These values ​​have been talked about for ages, but they are little more than lofty ideals. However, if we are to rid the world of violent extremism and create social harmony and peace, these qualities, which are in fact inherent, must become the guiding principles of political decisions and socio-economic structures.