Inequality - An Imbalance In Different Aspects

Name Tutor Course Date Inequality Introduction Inequality may be defined as an imbalance in different aspects or simply the lack of equality. As far as social inequality is concerned, inequality involves an imbalance in access to certain basic as well as secondary needs. The disparities in the distribution of such needs or rights are what is summed up as inequality. Such metrics as an imbalance in income distribution, gender, and health, education, including discrepancies in either material or non-material properties is what is defined as inequality. Usually, inequality is measured within the territories of a country or within individuals or group level such as between urban and rural populaces or between genders. However, when inequality is viewed from the global perspective, it is then referred to as international inequality. Inequality goes hand in hand with equity, which is entangled between two counteractive concepts including equality in opportunities and equality in the product. In reference to equality of opportunities, it simply refers to the equal potential and access to essential public services and rights among individuals. On the other hand, equality in the product or result refers to the actual or the real outcome in terms of the distribution of both material and non-material things both within and between countries. It should, however, be understood that different people or individuals and different countries are endowed with different abilities and resources that despite the fact that all things are kept constant. This, in turn, affects the various metrics used to measure inequality. For instance, income inequality measured among countries as well as among different individuals draw from different countries indicate a huge gap between the richest and the poorest with only 5 percent considered richest compared to 80 percent considered poorestCITATION Tho15 \p 93 \l 1033 (Piketty 93). Studying inequality and understanding the concepts and different aspects used in measuring and quantifying inequality is of great importance because it provides measures to different metrics that can be used to contain or address any form of inequality. Inequality affects people or groups of people differently either directly or indirectly. Since time immemorial, the levels of inequality have been growing tremendously and despite the interminable efforts put forward to fight inequality, it has always maintained an upward trajectory. Understanding the various aspects, trends, and changes including what causes these changes is of vital importance because, through this critical look, the issue of inequality can be addressed appropriately. Besides, understanding inequality is important in the development of public policy as far as human development is concerned. Most importantly, it should be noted that inequality is a rising global phenomenon and this should be of great concern among nations across the world. Quite a number of literature have emerged to explicate the complexity behind inequality including the likes of Mark McGillivray who endeavor to examine inequality from the perspective of poverty and the well-being of people with corresponding empirical procedures. In addition, Amartya Sen in the book “Inequality Re-examined”, explicates that focus should be heavily put on individual capabilities irrespective of their resources. Sen holds one of the major controversial concepts as regards the issue of inequality, unlike other scholars who believe that the disparities among people in majorly brought about due to the type of resources that they are endowed with and are able to exploit the same for their own advantage. This research paper delves into the issue of inequality by looking into the various aspects of inequality explaining the general understanding of the topic of inequality, the driving concept of inequality, and the thinking concept behind inequality as well as the relationship of inequality over a timeline lasting six periods. Section 1: General Understanding of Inequality Inequality is a vast topic that could take a whole generation to understand. However, understanding inequality requires a deeper look into such key issues as gender and social development or what can be regarded as poverty and gender issues. These are the central concerns of addressing inequality in a bid to enhance the well-being of the human race across the globeCITATION Tho15 \p 15 \l 1033 (Piketty 15). Notably, inequality covers a wide array of significant issues that affect humankind in different aspects of life. However, these issues that ring about inequality differ broadly in patterns in relation to the different boroughs involved. Therefore, to understand inequality in its entirety, there needs to be a special consideration of the various aspects such as efficiency, needs, and rights with respect to the region in question. Poverty is a major concept as far as inequality is concerned and the fight against inequality has always involved the fight to put an end to inequality. The considerable progress made in the fight against poverty can be attributed to the rapid growth in pursuit of economic stability across different countries in the world. Since World War II, the fight against poverty increased with increased globalization and economic freedom whereby countries have formed strategic partnerships in a bid to help one another to enhance their economic development and as a result put an end to inequality that stems from povertyCITATION Luc111 \p 49 \l 1033 (Platt 49). The level and trends of poverty in Africa and Asia are particular of interest and the changing times have proven that poverty and social inequality can change with change in economic development. Gender inequality is also another key aspect of the discussion in relation to the topic of inequality. The war against gender inequality is far from over despite numerous changes and transformations over a long period of time such as since the American Revolution to date. Understanding inequality also involves various indices that endeavor to capture the various aspects of the well-being of people. For instance, the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) reflects inequalities in not only health and education but also income, which captures the true measure of the well-being of people in a particular regionCITATION Tho15 \p 119 \l 1033 (Piketty 119). By measuring these indicators and how they are distributed across the society, governments are able to device various actions in order to enhance human development through a thorough approach against inequalities revolving around income, health, and education. This index together with the multidimensional poverty index and the gender inequality index provides a critical view of the society from a region-specific viewpoint in a bid to pinpoint various aspects that denote the existence of any form of inequality as the battle to enhance human development continues. Education is and has always conventionally been regarded as the master key to success and it has indeed been witnessed that education has transformed many people form a humble background to a higher social status in the community. Individuals with education and those without education are ideally located in different echelons in the society because those with education have a higher advantage of taking advantage of the various job opportunities in the job market and be able to advance in life compared to those without. Particularly, students who come from poorer families will always struggle to match their counterparts who come from richer families especially for good schools and for opportunities even after graduation. In order to reduce the rates of inequality with relation to education, countries should endeavor to invest in education in order to take advantage of the long-term impact that education has on the economy of a country. Inequality due to access to health information and services is a serious global issue that affects both the developing and the developed nations although at varying degrees. Population groups between countries are suffering due to inequalities in health status based on living and working conditions, and access to quality health care services as well as due to behavioral issues. In spite of the tremendous economic growth and advancements, people even in developed nations just like in developing nations continue to suffer from access to health care services and information based on their race, sexual preferences, religion, and geographical areas. However, governments can achieve a great results should there be more emphasis on not only making it easier for people to access health care services but also quality medical services to those who are disadvantaged both financially and socially without necessarily looking at the differences. Ideally, social inequality revolves around various aspects in the society and the changing trends of inequality only serve to expand the human understanding of inequality and how to not only measure but also enhance human development through fighting against any form of inequality including gender, racial, poverty, education, and health among others. However, this can only be achieved by acknowledging the fact that addressing the issue of inequality is not as simple as it may sound because of the mere fact that inequality is a multifaceted phenomenon that erupts in different forms and aspects and therefore; requires specific and well-calculated approaches. Policy makers are expected to be able to analyze past and prevailing conditions in order to device such strategies that looks deeper into different facets of inequality in a bid to come up with reliable and practical measures to curb the problem of inequality in the society. Section 2: Driving Concept Essentially, as discussed in section 1 above, it should be construed that inequality is entangled in the concept that, there are two groups of people. That is the ones that belong to the subordinate group and the others to the dominant group. The placement of people in either of these groups depends on the social context of a person whereby it can either be permanent or a temporary placementCITATION Cat17 \p 77 \l 1033 (Harnois 77). The inequality of the temporary measure deals with the power or status which can be defined as the relationship where there is dominance either of profession or age. Qualities to impart on the looked down on the party are given to the superior. However, the lesser party maintains a wort that is equal to the superior thus leading to the equality of both parties. Notably, Permanent equality mainly focuses on status and power. There is a strong difference between the significance of the dominant group and the subordinate. This group plays a part in the influence and promotion of negative alliances with the Subordinates. The Dominant view the subordinates as unproductive and helpless as a way of rationalizing excluded chances for all people. In a few cases, the subordinates will have a response to this with attributed persecution. In such a system, subordinates will quite often develop and adopt skills to how the dominant groups behave. Quite often, they learn more about the dominant group as they do theirsCITATION Bra16 \p 56 \l 1033 (Milanovic 56). This is regardless of the fact that a lot of experts in the specialties of the subordinate groups originate from the dominant group. The social inequality of the two groups is portrayed through the different rewards and opportunities in the different social statuses within the groups. This happens when the resources in a given society are unevenly distributed. The social inequality is rampantly growing in America and as a surprise, there is still disparity of resources. Social inequality majorly attracts poverty. Evidently, there are many Americans working and living under the minimum wage due to the low paying jobs with a broken dream of ever getting to the social mobility for the gap between the rich and poor keeps on stretching. It should be noted that social inequalities are mainly influenced by the locations geographically. The minorities or the subordinate groups remain the most affected by this kind of social hierarchy. A lot of people view these inequalities as a problem that is supposed to be blamed on the group and society. They have claims that the subordinate group uses the inequalities for their own profitability’s thus making the taxpayers and sometimes the rich more advantagedCITATION Luc111 \p 45 \l 1033 (Platt 45). However, there are different people who have used their voices to air such disparities and they inform the world how the programs that are meant to help the subordinate groups, take advantage of them by disciplining and monitoring them as a way of supplying cheap labor instead. Ideally, the driving concept behind inequality is explained differently depending on the approach used by different scholars who argue differently. Notably, the increasing trend of inequality across the globe is attributed to several drivers including globalization, which is as a result of the growing economic integration among nations, skill-based technological advancements, rapid changes in employment patterns, and changes in tax and benefits structures, which continues to affect social or income inequality among others. It should also be noted that racial differences have consistently formed the basis of many inequality issues especially among the African Americans and the rest across the world and these issues have escalated to involve violence even eating deep into the governing and administrative systems of the American government. However, this does not spell doom for the underprivileged because the continuous fight for human rights can only promise a brighter future where people, regardless of their skin color, would be seen and treated as equal without any prejudice whatsoever. Section 3: The Driving and Thinking Concepts of Inequality It should be noted that economic inequality is one of the most talked about the type of inequality. The driving concept of the topic and the type of inequality states above is the gap which exists between the poor and the rich as well as the differences which exist between various populations in the manner in which incomes, wealth and the assets are distributed amongst a given group of populations in society. In any given society, all the people do not earn the same range amount of salaries or incomes. Some earn higher salaries and incomes while others only earn average or low incomes. The difference in the levels of incomes is attributed to the various factors and reasons among them, the nature of jobs done by different people in different places. Additionally, the difference in the assets and wealth distribution is as a result of various reasons such as the family history of an individual (Hurst et al 345). According to the philosopher Adam Smith, economic inequality does not only involve issues to do with poverty of an individual or richness of an individual but it also attracts other issues also to do with social life among other aspects (Bhalla & Lapeyre 123). Smith states that the people who are rich do receive more attention and proper treatment such as respect ins society as compared to the poor. He states that “there is scarce a man who does not respect more the rich and great that the poor man and the humble. The material possession does act as the features which have the ability to provoke the differential treatment of an individual, the approval as well as the affection attached to an individual. According to Smith, poverty is all about having physical suspects which are less as compared to the rest. He further is of the view that poverty could be handled not only by providing physical materials to the people i.e. food, a housing of money but also through the provision of social needs such a...