Analysis on To What Extent is Inequality a Necessary Evil Assessment Answer

To What Extent is Inequality a “Necessary Evil”?

1. Introduction: 

Inequality can be referred to as the difference between wealth distribution, financial situation, social status, opportunity and benefits obtained by different classes, especially different ethnic groups in different geographical contexts. However, the most viable form of inequality is judged through the financial situation and wealth distribution. When there is a high gap between the earnings of a few hundred people compared to the few million people in a social context, it creates inequality. For example, after the great recession of 2008, earnings and assets of only 1% have grown whereas the life of rest 99% has become miserable in Britain due to rising debt and cost of living. This difference, mainly the wealth distribution gap which creates inequality can be measured through the identification of earnings, assets and investment made by the public. For example, comparing the per capita assets including liquidity assets and cash investment can help in identifying inequality. 

2. How does Society Benefit/Suffer from Inequality: 

Society in large benefits as well as suffers from inequality. Coming to the benefits, it is the rich and high-income groups who are benefited as their wealth due to their high-income increases and through investment, helps them create assets. For example, as identified in Dorling (2015), the reported average median household wealth of total best-off 10^th families in the UK is £1,393,900 which is more than the paltry median of poorest tenth households of UK. This means that inequality is benefiting the rich to become richer and increase their wealth. Interestingly, rising inequality in the UK is benefiting this section of the society to gain political power which they then make use to influence the legal frameworks in their favour, giving rise to the high concentration of wealth to a few people.  

The suffering is much more than the benefits as reported by Lse.ac.uk (2017) which shows that income inequality is giving rise to income poverty, leading to the suffering of a high number of people, depriving them of basic benefits. The report also showed that higher income inequality is creating negative consequences not only for some individuals (Those suffering income poverty) but also for the larger society which sees slow down of the overall economic growth. It is also seen that only 1% of the wealthiest in the UK now accumulates 24% of the total private wealth due to there is a high rise of other forms of inequality, especially the lack of opportunities and social mobility. Dorling (2015) found out that there is a link between income inequality and life expectancy. People living in high-income inequality countries live four years less than those in the most equitable countries. The infant death rate is double whereas the suffering of the poor overweighs the wealth of the rich in the high-income inequality countries. Moreover, the report has also found out that there is a high correlation between income inequality and health, especially drug abuse. Going with the example of the UK, it is found out that the country has the highest cocaine use in Europe.

3. Conclusion: 

The above analysis shows that inequality is a "Necessary Evil" due to the negative consequences of inequality. Even though it is beneficial for the 1% of the total population who holds 24% of the public money, it is not beneficial for the rest 99%. As seen from Dorling (2015), average savings of UK Southern households is just £12,300 whereas Eastern households are £2400 in Banks. When comparing this to the rich, they have trillions in their banks as well as in overseas to avoid tax. This shows income inequality. It is also evident from the above section that higher income inequality not only raises income poverty but also leads to health issues, drug abuse, higher infant rate as well as high mortality rate and less life expectancy. This is, therefore, can be considered as a necessary evil as income inequality does not contribute positively to the larger society. My perception about equality also goes in the same way as I believe inequality, especially the rising gap of income equality is not favourable for building a healthier and happier society.