CBC Ideas - The Return of Inequality - Lessons of History
The exploration on how wealth inequality is reaching breaking points and how this is part of liberal democracy’s largest existential threats.
12:20 - in Canada 1% have 37% of the income growth.
“David Hulchansky, who’s a professor of housing and social work at the University of Toronto, has written a fascinating study entitled The Three Cities Within Toronto about the geographic distribution of inequality and the gradual creation of an island of wealth surrounded by poor suburbs.”
“even more alarming for me is the source and the nature of today’s inequality and in particular how it’s undermining the meritocratic values that are so crucial for liberal democracy to thrive.”
And following this how the inequality leads to your inheritance being the primary determinant for your wealth and success.
“Individuals will become better off not primarily through a lifetime of hard work, as suggested by the American Dream, but through how much capital they inherit.”
21:30 - increases in mental illness, drug addiction, obesity, loss of community life, etc. all increase with an increase in inequality.
The effects of inequality damage our social fabric - especially when it creates an inequality of opportunity. (Eg. Having to buy your way into things)
24:30 - “the vast majority within the 1% pursue what economists call rent seeking, appropriating a greater share of the existing pie rather than enlarging the pie. And many derive their wealth from connections, whether familiar or political.”
26:00 - “there’s a feedback loop that’s been established whereby economic inequality translates into political inequality and political inequality creates further social stratification.”
40:00 - a good reminder how fragile liberal democracy is and its weakness to being overconfident it’s structures will help it survive.
43:00 - we don’t talk about the positives anymore because inequality has destroyed them. And because of that - it leads to anger, frustration for some, and extreme entitlement for others.
45:20 - “researchers consistently found that as levels of wealth increase, feelings of entitlement also rise, and levels of empathy and obligation towards others decline. … statistically speaking, the tendency to look out for number one increases as a person rises to the top of the status hierarchy”
This leads right into the research showing more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road - failing to stop
48:05 - “Having more means that you can rely less on others, leading in turn to a reduced feeling that you owe anyone anything.”