Inequality

Overview

Inequality has many faces.  Unlike ants and bees, humans are inherently unequal, with different abilities and varied likes and interests.  These differences mean that people will achieve vastly different levels and types of success, whether in free or tyrannical environments. 

Income inequality, which is the result of both natural differences in ability and the use of force by a few against many, is a common rallying cry of those seeking power.  Both constructive and destructive forces contribute to income inequality, resulting in both fair and unfair income inequality.  Understanding the difference is critical to good government policy that ends the bad without destroying the good.

This GATEWAY page leads to multiple articles that discuss the nature of inequality along with the types of income inequality and the possible responses to it. 

Does Inequality Matter

LearnLiberty.org

an introduction to a course by the same name.

Inequality Pages

Historically, freedom and equality have been incompatible, and when one rises the other declines.  The people of the world will have to choose between what seem like two good options. 

One cannot observe the world without concluding that people are not equal in physical or mental ability.  There are obviously celebrities who excel in sports, business, entertainment, science, literature, music, etc. while the rest of us feel much more “average”.  One key to happiness is appreciating the abilities of others and how their talents benefit us.

Many world leaders insist that income inequality is the biggest problem facing the modern world.  It is real, and whether or not you think it is important, it is going to affect your future life, either directly or via government intervention.

Conservatives defend income inequality as the just result of hard work by some and laziness by others. Liberals rail against inequality as a great injustice caused by greed.  See why they are BOTH RIGHT and BOTH WRONG. 

All the world’s leaders use the Gini coefficient to measure and talk about income inequality.  But is it an accurate measure or a political tool?  Find out who created it and what it means.  You will be surprised by the facts.

There are many “man-made” causes of income inequality, that are the result of men’s actions, some are fair and other unfair.  Unfair inequality can be created by TAKERS including big businesses and politicians who use government power to transfer wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich.  While fair inequality can be produced by MAKERS like entrepreneurs who create new wealth for everyone and get to keep a portion of it for themselves.  Both good and bad luck contribute significantly to income inequality.  Lack of opportunity and discrimination also play a role in many countries.

Those who become lawfully rich in the free market must create jobs that produce new and better products and services that improve the lives of the poor and middle class BEFORE they are rewarded with wealth.  The forces that generate fair income inequality are productive and improve the standard of living of everyone, including the rich.

Unfair income inequality makes people angry and rightfully so.  It has plagued the world throughout history and frequently caused bloody revolutions that destroyed the wealth they were meant to redistribute.  It is almost always the result of a small group of privileged people gaining control of the coercive power of government and using it to force others to do what they want. 

Income inequality is an inescapably big problem and the question of what should be done about it will dominate much of the political debate for the foreseeable future.  How the world responds to it will have a great impact on whether we are prosperous or poor in the future. 

Country “inequality” comparisons are being used by Presidents, Popes, and high level political and financial leaders throughout the world to justify greater government intervention in the economy.  But is the vision of the world upon which their conclusions are based accurate?  Or is it a politically motivated over simplification of a complex question.  This article analyzes the relationship between “income inequality” and multiple other measures of a country’s economic well-being to see what relationships with income inequality actually exist. 

Recommended

The Ideal of Equality  a fork in the road, legal equality or material equality, with two different destinations

Freedom and Equality  the quest for freedom and equality lead in opposite directions

Does Income Inequality Matter  poverty matters, but what about income inequality