This looks well interesting on factors contributing to emergence of #inequality, comparing the difference between #land limitation and #labour limitation. The latter is more likely to maintain equality (and it's also more likely to be matrilineal/matrilocal probably), while shifts from labour to land scarcity would generate inequalities (not least gender).
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#inequality
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In the US, the super-rich get even richer. https://www.commondreams.org/news/19-richest-us-families
Common Dreams · Top 19 'Truly Superwealthy' US Families Grew $1 Trillion Richer Last Year: Analysis | Common DreamsFamilies including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg now control a combined $2.6 trillion in wealth, according to renowned economist Gabriel Zucman.
https://www.cracked.com/article_46285_no-middle-class-family-can-live-like-the-simpsons-anymore-census-shows.html “While the median income of families has risen, inequality means that fewer people have that amount of money.” #Simpsons #housing #inequality #shortage
Cracked.com · No Middle-Class Family Can Live Like ‘The Simpsons’ Anymore, Census ShowsNo more trips to Itchy & Scratchy Land
We Don't Talk Enough About (WDTEA)
Wealth inequality and how it has been increasing and increasing since the 1970/80s
Folks, please don’t be so hard on Labour.
It’s not easy laying the foundations for the UK’s upcoming fascist government. (The Democrats should know; it takes dedicated effort.)
They’re working as hard as they can as it is to ensure the UK follows in the footsteps of the US.
Tweet by Sen. Bernie Sanders:
U.S. Oligarchy - 2025:
Elon Musk owns as much wealth as the bottom 53% of U.S households.
The top 1% own more wealth than the bottom 90%.
Real weekly wages are $30 lower than 52 years ago.
60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
Yes. We can do better than that.
Interesting confirmation of what we'd been suspecting. "Austerity, they found, is the key variable: without it, less-educated people are no more likely to vote for rightwing demagogues than highly educated people are. In other words, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are busily handing their core constituencies to Nigel Farage."
https://www.monbiot.com/2025/04/14/the-urge-to-destroy/
#austerity #UKpolitics #inequality
George Monbiot · The Urge to DestroyIt’s a cast-iron relationship: the more unequal a society becomes, the better the far right does. Here’s why.
I'll generalize this. "The more unequal society is, the more severe the disaster".
This goes for climate, healthcare, housing, economy, ...
Equality is a form of resilience. Although disasters can be equalizing (see Rebecca Solnit - A Paradise built in Hell), true billionaires / multi-millionaires will extract themselves from rebuilding a community by virtue of being supremely isolated and protected.
The Guardian · Climatologist Friederike Otto: ‘The more unequal the society is, the more severe the climate disaster’
The World Under Capitalism: Observations on Economics, Politics, History, and Culture
Branko Milanovic
John Wiley & Sons, 07/04/2025 - 400 páginas
"Branko Milanovic is best known as one of the world’s leading experts on global inequality. But he is also an unusually wide-ranging and penetrating commentator on subjects across economics and beyond, in politics, history, and culture. This book brings together his most searching, provocative, and entertaining articles of recent years, providing an abundance of vital insights into the evolution and dynamics of the world under capitalism.
The volume features important ideas about the struggle to achieve a more equal and prosperous world against not only the predictable forces of deregulation and distraction but new ideas about shrinking the economy to protect the environment. Further from Milanovic’s speciality, readers will find an extraordinary array of reflections on subjects including migration, globalization, the politics and economics of Russia and China, the crisis of liberal democracy, economic and literary history, and the intellectual giants of economics. The pieces are united by Milanovic’s distinctive voice – humane, wry, and realistic – and by remarkable erudition worn lightly whether the topic is the fall of Constantinople, Jane Austen, or the mores of contemporary soccer.
No one can fail to learn from the book, while the sparkling prose, unexpected observations, and sheer importance of the subjects at hand make it a compelling read from start to finish."
Google BooksThe World Under CapitalismBranko Milanovic is best known as one of the world’s leading experts on global inequality. But he is also an unusually wide-ranging and penetrating commentator on subjects across economics and beyond, in politics, history, and culture. This book brings together his most searching, provocative, and entertaining articles of recent years, providing an abundance of vital insights into the evolution and dynamics of the world under capitalism. The volume features important ideas about the struggle to achieve a more equal and prosperous world against not only the predictable forces of deregulation and distraction but new ideas about shrinking the economy to protect the environment. Further from Milanovic’s speciality, readers will find an extraordinary array of reflections on subjects including migration, globalization, the politics and economics of Russia and China, the crisis of liberal democracy, economic and literary history, and the intellectual giants of economics. The pieces are united by Milanovic’s distinctive voice – humane, wry, and realistic – and by remarkable erudition worn lightly whether the topic is the fall of Constantinople, Jane Austen, or the mores of contemporary soccer. No one can fail to learn from the book, while the sparkling prose, unexpected observations, and sheer importance of the subjects at hand make it a compelling read from start to finish.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-04-17/how-eco-localism-differs-from-tariff-terrorism/
"…winners of the #globalization game include a growing global #billionaireclass and a fast-growing #middleclass in #China, #India, and other manufacturing hubs. Middle-class consumers around the world win by getting cheap goods. Corporations and investors reap a windfall.
However, society and nature are losers when globalization worsens #inequality while speeding up depletion and #pollution…"
resilience · How Eco-Localism Differs from Tariff TerrorismAs soaring consumer prices, supply chain disruptions, and reductions in government-provided funding and services threaten communities, localists can help bolster local markets and inspire mutual aid efforts, helping mobilize folks to take more responsibility for their own collective resilience and well-being.
‘Our moral intuitions about merit and personal worth are changing.’
an interview with Marion Fourcade about her book "The Ordinal Society" co-written by @kjhealy: https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/04/23/from-uber-ratings-to-credit-scores-whats-lost-in-a-society-that-counts-and-sorts-everything/
Berkeley News · From Uber ratings to credit scores: What’s lost in a society that counts and sorts everything? - Berkeley NewsIn her book, UC Berkeley sociology professor Marion Fourcade investigates what our dependence on ratings and rankings means for the future of individuality and society.
As The High Pay Centre suggest, following Green Party policy, a cap on CEO earnings would likely be pretty popular.
Where that cap might be pitched is between the £213k income that people seem to think indicates you are wealthy, and the 20 times average pay (around £700k) that most people think should be the maximum CEOs are paid!
Will it happen? not with this political class... but yet another reason to think about voting Green?
h/t HPC newsletter
Remember the famous Rand Institute study that showed the rich had stolen $ 50 Trillion from the rest of us between 1975 and 2007?
There is an update:
$ 79 Trillion between 1975 and 2023.
That's more the twice (2x) the official US government debt, which is just about $ 36 Trillion.
White Americans in areas with higher Black poverty more likely to attribute racial disparities to lack of effort: Study
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-white-americans-areas-higher-black.html
Phys.org · White Americans in areas with higher Black poverty more likely to attribute racial disparities to lack of effort: Study
Researchers have studied multiple historical cultures and their findings contradict the 'inevitability of inequality' narrative we are fed:
"Historical inequality doesn't occur the same way everywhere, and doesn't naturally increase as populations grow and governments become more complex. Instead, the choices human societies made about how to distribute wealth were key in keeping social disparities under control".
Live Science · Did every civilization have inequality? New 10,000-year study reveals a surprising answer.
Replied in thread
Before reading the rest of article by George Monbiot I asked myself why & first answer was political agendas warped by political party campaign funding. Ability of some few to control media messaging doesn’t help either. But I would like more discussion on other ‘whys’ e.g. (as suggested/ nominated by Monbiot):
“centrist parties paralysed in the face of economic power. In hock to rich funders, terrified of the billionaire media, for decades they have been unable even to name the problem, let alone address it. Hence the spectacular uselessness of the Democrats’ response to Trump. As the US journalist Hamilton Nolan remarks: “One party is out to kill, and the other is waiting for its leaders to die.” “
#USPol # UKPol #AusPol #inequality #ReconnectingConsequencesToCauses
It's a straightforward relationship: high #inequality leads to the triumph of the far right. It will keep winning until governments deliberately seek to make societies more equal. I'm looking at you, Keir Starmer.
This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Rightwing populists will keep ...
Bluesky SocialBluesky
https://www.europesays.com/1991002/ How Germany’s wealth inequality led to far-right surge, explained #BOOKS #europe #FromTheMagazine #germany #housing #Inequality #LearningAndEmployment #Politics
How Germany’s wealth inequality led to far-right surge, explained https://www.byteseu.com/916748/ #Books #Europe #FromTheMagazine #Germany #Housing #Inequality #LearningAndEmployment #Politics
