Modern society has several problems and tasks worthy of attention and solutions. However, among all the problems, the most ancient and significant one stands out: inequality. Inequality exists between the inhabitants of one country, continent, and the whole world. The problem of social inequality has existed almost since the emergence of civilization. Nevertheless, injustice and poor distribution of resources have not diminished through the course of scientific, technological, social, and economic progress but, on the contrary, only became stronger. Capitalism has become the central institution that creates inequality and leads humanity towards a dystopian future. It replaces slavery of antiquity and negatively affects almost all aspects of society, from the inequality of men and women to the sphere of science and education.
In developed countries, along with racial inequality, there is a difference in society’s attitude towards men and women. The institution of patriarchy, common in many cultures, has suppressed women for millennia, viewing them primarily as a resource. Women were looked upon only as domestic servants and reproductive instruments. Only a few centuries have passed since such a discriminatory attitude was relevant; the advent of suffragism has partially solved the problem.
On the one hand, capitalism was successful in sustaining absolute freedom to women in first world countries since it is an institution that is not interested in the origin, gender, and nation of a person and looks only at their abilities. Modern corporate consumerism adherents are also interested in equalizing women’s rights, but only to make the corporation earn more money. Big companies support feminism and equality only as long as they are not forced to commit resources to truly support women. Instead of supporting women because of their physiological characteristics, such as pregnancy, large companies often quietly lay them off, replacing staff. Due to the inability of maternal leave, singe mothers could not purse the development of their careers. Besides, childcare is way too expensive for them. Since women are involved in children’s upbringing and domestic chores, they rarely can take up leadership roles. As a result, one can observe that capitalism supports the institution of patriarchy without providing tangible support to women, only exacerbating inequality.
It is also worth considering the idea of inequality between states and society since regular discourse about inequality only indirectly mentions this. At first glance, if one looks at the words of large corporations and developed countries, it may seem that developing countries are poor only due to their fault. Low industrialization, inability to compete with other economies, and the like, are mentioned. However, looking at most of the developing countries, the main sectors of their production and economies, an obvious source of problems could be seen. In South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, all of the most profitable manufacturing and trading sectors are owned, directly or indirectly, by foreign corporations (Stiglitz, 2013). Thus, inequality and capitalism are involved in the process of impoverishment across nations.
Moreover, all the HQs of large corporations are primarily situated in only a few places: Europe, North America, and China. As a result, it could be seen that corporations from developed countries exploit ordinary people from developing countries. The Frank Zone, Chinese Economic Zones, and American corporations are all neo-colonial hegemons that exacerbate global inequality. Based on the preceding, institution of globalization and capitalism only aggravates inequality, beneficial to a small number of countries and individuals, at the cost of the rest of the world.
As mentioned earlier, capitalism and globalization are predatory and cruel not only to other countries but also to people within the societies where they place their government. As noted by Eduardo Galeano in Injustice 101 (2001), the modern system is hypocritical and unfair. This is seen in the problems of poverty, the availability of such essential matters for a person as education and medicine. It can be seen that in countries where capitalism does not stand above society but is embedded in society itself, people are much happier since they have affordable, sometimes even free healthcare and education. This can be observed in contrast between the attitude of the United States and Canada towards their people, where the former completely ignore the availability of public goods, and the latter strive to do so. The absence of formal state education, medicine, marginalization of the proletariat, and poor people in favor of capital can be observed in the States. These same problems are absent in Canada, Germany, and other socially-oriented societies. In general, it can be concluded that socially-oriented economies are much more practical about their citizens and their equality.
Although the problem of inequality stands clearly and stands out against the background of other socio-economic issues, not many agree with the methods of solving it. In Stiglitz’s The Price of Inequality, he explicitly and well criticizes the modern social system and the establishment (Stiglitz, 2013). However, it is worth considering the lack of explicit specifics in Stiglitz regarding the solution of the identified problems, which is somewhat embarrassing. There are many answers to solving the problem of inequality, for example, ignoring the problem for economic development. It should be noted that economic growth is not an indicator of the happiness of citizens and often goes despite it. There is also an alternative view from modern social democratic philosophers and economists, who note the usefulness of social policy. This slows down economic development in the short term but will multiply it in the long term. It follows from this that the development of the economy should not be higher than the public good because, at the cost of costs here and now, we will get growth in the future. Summing up, it is easy to see that both ends of the spectrum of the problem of solving inequality have their arguments, but many factors must be taken into account.
The problem of inequality is treated differently in the academic environment, and the influence of capitalism on this area is debated. Considering the trends of many years, it can be seen that the academic environment is increasingly focused on solving the problems posed by business and not public needs. The development of the technical branch of science is increasingly focusing on creating innovative products for the market and the consumer segment of the economy. This is because investor and government money goes to a small but influential segment of consumer goods innovation, to the detriment of all other industries. Based on this, it can be seen that such an allocation of resources primarily harms the rest of science.
Moreover, science popularizers often discredit the academic environment with loud statements, politicization, and radical views. The resources for organizing their performances and publishing their works are great, but there is also a problem. Despite all the benefits that rational and adequate popularization of the scientific approach brings, the money going to the loudest and most attractive audiences of popularizers does not go into actual research. The situation is problematic but straightforward because the market benefits from the inequality between the scientific and popularizing environment.
Summing up all that has been said, it will be noted that the problem of inequality is essential and significant, and it only gets worse every decade. The existence of inequality between different population groups, classes, and states leads to a hypocritical and predatory attitude of the rich towards the poor. The problem of neo-colonialism of corporations in developing countries is touched upon and specific groups of the population such as single mothers or women at work in general. Ignoring the problem of inequality will ultimately destabilize the situation in society, and the future will only lead to a worsening of the situation. To summarize, as long as there is inequality in society, and as long as the minority exploits and suppresses the majority, the world will experience crisis episodes, and the situation will only worsen.
References
Galeano, E., Posada, J. G., & Fried, M. (2001). Upside down: A primer for the Looking-Glass world (1st ed.). Picador.
Stiglitz, J. E. (2013). The price of inequality: How today’s divided society endangers our future (Reprint ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.