A Challenge to Inequality?

Over the last few years evidence has been gradually mounting that wealth/income inequality is harmful for all of us.

The 2009 publication of The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett highlighted the many ways in which inequality can exacerbate a whole host of social ills across the spectrum.

This was followed in 2013 by Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty suggesting how inequality is also bad for all of us in economic terms.

There are many supporters of these ideas among whom are economist Joseph Sitglitz, academic Prof. David Harvey, New York Mayor Bill di Blasio, the Occupy movement, and even it seems the IMF.

The power of these theories is in the strong evidence based logic which informs both The Spirit Level and Capital in the 21st Century.

One thing is for sure, the current neoliberal agenda has been shown to increase wealth/income inequality as part of its structural outcomes. There has been much talk of the 1% and the 99%, and it seems that this is the reality with which we now live. By inference then, neoliberalism actually harms us all both socially and economically.

Prof David Harvey has raised the question as to where a challenge will arise to this overarching ideology which seems to serve us badly in the long run. It seems that the challenge, if and when it comes, can only come from the left in the form of a definite "opposition" to the neoliberal core values of global deregulation and free market economics.

In the UK The Conservatives, The Liberal Democrats & UKIP seem firmly to support the neoliberal agenda, but quite worryingly, The Labour Party also seem content to propose how their policies will operate within that same framework, rather than providing a clear and distinct "opposition" to neoliberal values.

Len McCluskey, General Secretary of the trades union "Unite" has intimated that if the Labour Party are not prepared to take up this banner of "opposition", then the unions would consider forming a workers party for that purpose.

I am sure that 35 years of the failed experiment of neoliberalism has been quite enough for most people, and there must be a political challenge to it very soon. It remains to be seen whether the UK Labour Party will be able to see the bigger picture and will have the courage to seize the moment.

There are many who feel a sense that we are on the edge of a paradigm shift concerning the relationship between state and people, and it would be my personal hope that we can be guided forward by some committed politicians to achieve a positive outcome to serve us all.