The causes and policy implications of inequality - Sep, 2023

 The causes and policy implications of inequality.

 

 Inequality is an interesting area to dwell in. It is one of such area’s that have a repeated link interaction. There is a thin line between our wants and needs which most of the time gives rise to this concept inequality. According to me, inequality is nothing but one having the access to, and the other failing to do so. Causes of inequality can be plenty, they can be influenced by people, their psyche, the very structure of how a particular society functions, their beliefs and so much more beyond these. Before we dive into the causes or the policy implications of inequality, let us try to answer a very basic question, whether a system can function without inequality, do we want to curb it, or nullify it’s existence and is the very ideal of an equal society possible, if yes is it efficient. To understand this, let’s take a small scenario. In a city named ‘Lapok’ there were about 1000 inhabitants, the geographic setting of this city was such that, it was isolated from other cities after an earthquake. So the people of Lapok had to pretty much follow a self-sufficient ecosystem within themselves, and they in solidarity believed this concept of equality, where nobody is left behind. Disability is a social construct, so is inferiority. With this thought they successfully managed to bring equal recognition to all the Lapokian’s who undertook various roles at Lapok. It was good all this while for about 50 years of isolation where generations carried the monotonous ideals and lived rather happily in their small reality, until there was a bridge made connecting Lapok to other cities, and when the cultures met after 5 long decades, is when Lapokian’s realized how much they had fallen behind, in terms of development, beliefs, thinking, rationality, ease of access to resources, quality of life just because they had their doors closed to the; concept of innovation, difference, diversity, and more or less inequality. Now a question that will arise in your minds as a reader would be, just because one follows the concept of equality, of equal opportunity, of equal recognition does not mean they have closed themselves to innovation, progression or development for that matter. But what if I say, I completely agree with Plato when he said, “Necessity is the mother of innovation” Inequality is inevitable, it is the backbone of progression, growth and sustainability. It wouldn’t be wrong to compare Darwin’s work in order to draw a conclusion that survival is the single most rewarded form of the price we pay for the time we spend on this planet earth. According to me, to break out from the shackles of inequality each one of us fight our own battles and survive. Thinking rationally, the only thing that bug’s me is that everyone needs to be in a condition to fight, if the basic requirements are delivered survival is their task. Inequality taking shapes in forms of hunger, education and health would turn out to be very grave for mankind. To deliver these basic pre-requisites can be what we regard to as hand-holding of the undermined population. Hand-holding can take various shapes/ forms on the basis of where your origin is, *Reservations *Taxation *Targeted public distribution system (TPDS) *Subsidies *Priority sector lending and many more avatars they become. Coming back to the highlight, what can be the causes of inequality, what is causing this phenomenon? Is it that some people who are in control of majority resources, use this advantage leverage the rest. Or is it that some have just dreamt beyond their boundaries and got there, while others are waiting for the rescue boat, to come their way. Or is it because we have failed to provide some with very basic necessities that they deserve, as a result of which they cannot contribute. If one fails to contribute, he fails to consume, fails to interact, fails to survive in this system. I believe our main focus should be enabling people to contribute, for which we need to make sure the degree of inequality is reduced. Because expecting an athlete to perform while he has malnutrition, does not make sense at all. Now that we know inequality is not going anywhere, all that we need to focus on is making sure everybody has access to the very basics necessities, to achieve which, we need to reduce the degree of inequality not eradicate it. Talking about the policy implications of inequality, they are broad. Every policy that is made at least till today is keeping in mind the maximization of profit and growth. We all want the figures to get there don’t we? The real question here is, are we really maximising growth or exhausting our opportunities to get farther. Why is the concept of maximisation for the short term even though we feel it is for the long run. At this rate we will end up back to square 1, because we are driving the car until the breakdown, not until the next service station. Even though there is a need to take a small detour to reach the service station, we increase the life span of the car intern expanding it’s utility. But when we run just after the destination, not realising the destination was always a mirage because we are humans after-all who experience scarcity always. “No complaint is more common than that of a scarcity of money”-Adam smith