The GAP - Part I - we cannot have both

I work and they get richer. 
You work and they get richer.
We all work harder and the few get richer.
Average income has been flat for decades; the income of the wealthy has increased radically.  (The wealthiest 1% captured 95% of post-financial crisis growth since 2009 while the bottom 90% became poorer.)
We all work harder so they can get richer.
Is that actually what is happening?

In the US, the richest 10% of Americans currently account for about half the nation's wealth.

In 1988, the income of an average American taxpayer was $33,400, adjusted for inflation. Fast forward 20 years, and not much had changed: The average income was still just $33,000 in 2008, according to IRS data. Keep in mind that that's an average, and the rich are getting richer at a tremendous rate during that period.

"In many countries, extreme economic inequality is worrying because of the pernicious impact that wealth concentrations can have on equal political representation. When wealth captures government policymaking, the rules bend to favor the rich, often to the detriment of everyone else. The consequences include the erosion of democratic governance, the pulling apart of social cohesion, and the vanishing of equal opportunities for all. Unless bold political solutions are instituted to curb the influence of wealth on politics, governments will work for the interests of the rich, while economic and political inequalities continue to rise. As US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said, ‘We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we cannot have both.’"

OXFAM: Working for the Few 

A few minutes with this particular chart may trigger a turning point in your thinking.  This is TMI for
many folks, and deeply unsettling, particularly if you visualize the people and families.  TMI, meaning
we're inclined to shake it off rather than assimilate and understand.

The subject is called economic inequality or the gap between rich and poor.  There are opinions, but in general, the greater the gap, the greater the nation's difficulty with economic growth, governmental and marketplace corruption, foreign investment, and foreign debt.  The byproduct of the gap can also be measured in human distress and the struggle for survival. 

Source: F. Alvaredo, A. B. Atkinson, T. Piketty and E. Saez,

(2013)  The World Top IncomesDatabase

http://topincomes.gmond.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/

Only includes countries with datain 1980 and later than 2008

Note in the table (right) that the percentage of income going to the rich has increased, but it varies among nations.  It suggests the income available to share among the rest is reduced, again with variations. 

The bigger the gap ... so what?  Does it change things?  There are differing opinions among economists regarding the cause and effect analysis.

A summary, "The U.S. economic and social model is associated with substantial levels of social exclusion, including high levels of income inequality, high relative and absolute poverty rates, poor and unequal educational outcomes, poor health outcomes, and high rates of crime and incarceration. At the same time, the available evidence provides little support for the view that U.S.-style labor-market flexibility dramatically improves labor-market outcomes. Despite popular prejudices to the contrary, the U.S. economy consistently affords a lower level of economic mobility than all the continental European countries for which data is available."^[REF]

Income inequality and mortality in 282 metropolitan
areas of the United States.  Mortality is strongly
associated with higher income inequality, but, within
levels of income inequality, not with per capita income.

The bottom line?  When the rich get richer, it has to come from somewhere.

In the short view, wealth comes from labor, innovation, creativity, cooperation, collaboration, risk-taking ...  but as the gap widens, those things become progressively less significant.  The wealthy are disproportionately represented in government policies and marketplace advantages.

I sat with friends (who work much harder than I do) around a home fire on home-made stools in a western African village while they explained to me all the things they were doing, hoping to provide for their families.  They aggressively pursue every opportunity to "do a little business".  In a very good year, they generate around $1500 for their household.  Normally, it's less.  The impediments to their progress, an exclusive upper class and a government that's crooked as a dog's hind leg.

(It's different here in the developed world, of course. 

Isn't it? Of course it is. It must be. It must.)

See The GAP - Part II

It's particularly troubling when the widening gap points to differences in mortality, available nutrition, access to education, to basic healthcare and safe neighborhoods. Historically, such a gap often precedes significant upheaval, both national and international.  At some point, the laborer will no longer work and sacrifice his life and the lives of his children for the benefit of another's opulence and privilege.

Thoughts?  

The top of the economic pyramid is not the moral high ground.  The only way for a small group of people to become obscenely rich is for huge masses of others to be kept quite poor.

The Adult Mind - Part IV: Hard Change

Here is the first morning after Sweden
changed from driving on the left side
to driving on the right, 1967.  What
a quagmire.  They have no such
difficulty today, of course.

Things change.  Sometimes it's a bit of an upheaval as our norms get realigned.

(This is just for those interested in history and economics; everybody else will be bored.)

Think about slavery; it was the norm for most of human history.  Across continents and cultures and centuries, it was part of everyday life.  Everyone knew that there were those folks who by virtue of birth or race or class would be on the bottom social rung.  Nobody questioned it, really.  It had always been that way and it always would be, of course.

Am I not a man and a brother?
Anti-slavery medallion created in 1787

And it was, until 1787 when a dozen fellows met in London in a print shop and changed it all.  They formed 'The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade' and began to challenge the norm.  Pretty much everybody had it pushed in their face, slavery is wrong; just wrong. 

They told the truth about what it was really like on the slave ships.  They campaigned publicly and petitioned parliamentarians.

Wilberforce!  William Wilberforce introduced the first Bill to abolish the slave trade in 1791.  It was defeated 163 votes to 88. As Wilberforce continued to bring the issue of the slave trade before Parliament, others continued to travel, raise funds, lobby, and to write anti-slavery articles. Wilberforce introduced a new motion to abolish slavery almost every year.  It took several years before they saw progress, but it came.

(as Thomas Princen narrates so well for us in
his book Treading Softly: Paths to Ecological Order)

Today, we look on slavery as barbaric and wicked, and rightly so, but it was the norm at the time, and good people didn't think about it, for the most part.  It was just a fact of life  ...

Today, we face issues that are similarly significant but unasked questions, at least for now.

For example, our economy presumes and depends on continued growth in literally every corner and every market.

Exponential growth in a finite world ...

The corner shop with a small but steady customer base and a steady throughput of goods is no longer viable.  It hasn't been for decades.  All such businesses are pressed by the growth thinking of corporations like Walmart and Target and Food Lion and Giant.  Their business model requires them to overtake a region's cash flow and channel it through their product sales.  They depend on winning  based on the appeal of their larger stores and pricing margins achievable only by massive throughput.  Family farms face similar difficulties.  Is that bad?  Perhaps; perhaps not.  But it is troublesome.

As an aside:  our growth model is illustrated by the extended cash-flow model that Wall Street employs.  Their documented and discussed intent is to be the holder of debt for a developing country at the GDP level, the maximum amount they can extract from the country's economy.  It compares to payday borrowing; incrementally, you borrow against your next payday until you're giving your whole paycheck to pay what you owe.

The growth and competition model presumes growth can continue unabated, that resources are effectively unlimited, and that it makes sense to airlift flowers from Kenya to Wisconsin to fill a florist's refrigerated display case.

Our growth model is the norm, at least for now.  What are the unasked questions?  

The rest of the story: like slavery, our competitive economy imposes cost on non-participants.  The benefit to some imposes cost on others who hadn't agreed to participate.  In Africa, local markets that serve the community find their prices imposed from Wall Street.  Corn meal in Kenya, locally produced and the staple for existence for more than half the coastal population, doubled in price in 2007/8 due to world market fluctuations.  Wall Street did that, and millions went hungry; tens of thousands died.  The primary cause - foreign participation in their markets.


That's the norm today.  Is it wrong like slavery was wrong.  Of course.  But change will be tumultuous.

Bedtime Stories

This is Indira, age 7, from Kathmandu, Nepal.

Continuing our search for a little legitimate perspective, lets look at sleeping arrangements from around the world.

From a stunning collection by English photographer James Mollison here are children around the world ... and their beds.  His book is titled Where Children Sleep, and it unveils some differences indeed; from girls in thousand dollar dresses in their private mansions to shepherd boys sleeping with goats.

And this is where little Indira sleeps.

“I hope the book gives a glimpse into the lives some children are living in very diverse situations around the world; a chance to reflect on the inequality that exists, and realise just how lucky most of us in the developed world are,” says the author. 

And this is Joey's bedroom.

Joey, age 11, lives in Kentucky.

What's the likelihood we're aware of how fortunate we are in the developed world? 

What is the chance our children understand?

We can see it, but our awareness seems to evaporate immediately.  Can it be part of the way we think and live our own lives?

Children in the developed world often have a private room complete with closet and bed and storage for stuff.


Not so in about 80% of the world.

And this is where he sleeps.

This young fellow is 9 and lives in The Ivory Coast

Most live like this fellow, and the bed is shared with others in the family.



If we knew this child personally along with his family; if they were friends of ours, how might that affect our children?  Would they make different choices?

This is Jasmine (Jazzy), age 4, who lives in Kentucky, USA, and her bedroom.

This fellow is Lamine, age 12.  He lives in Bounkiling village,
in southern Senegal, not far from the Soungrougrou River.

And this young lady is Ahkohxet.  She's 8 years old and lives in
Brazil, probably in the state of Amazonas which occupies the
greater part of the tropical forest zone of the Amazon River basin.  

Risa lives in Tokyo, Japan.                          Nantio lives in Lisamis, Northern Kenya.
Both girls are 15 years old.

Reality check:  Just so you know the samplings offered above by photographer James Mollison are not just selective artistic representations, here are some amateur photos from our travels.  In Nigeria, Sao Tome & Principe, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya, there are few who live like folks in the developed world.  Seven years, 20+ long trips, 10,000+ photographs, and for everyone there, the normal struggles are for clean water, food, shelter, and perhaps electricity.

Click on the photos for more detail, if you like.
Or come see for yourself.

Eye-roll

^ In North Carolina, USA, the Revis family spends around $342 per week. ^

I got a nice email comment from an Australian father; when he mentioned his youngster doing the eye-roll, I laughed.  Apparently, dad was trying to talk thoughtfully about consumerism, and must not have said it in a fashion an 8-year old could receive.  Thus, the eye-roll!

So for a little perspective, lets look at some differences from place to place.  From a delightful photo collection, What the World Eats, published by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio, here's a look a some families and the food they buy at the markets and eat each week.  (The authors visited and photographed 30 families in 24 countries.)

^ In Mali, the Natomo family spends around $30 per week.

In western Africa, the children invited me to go with them

to get mangoes.  I thought they meant to a market, but they

took me down the path to a mango tree where they threw

sticks to knock down the fruit.  She's holding one of my
cameras; she and her friends take pictures that I print and
bring back on later trips.

On the fish aisle in Japan

It's not the same everywhere, of course.  Some have grocery stores, some have open-air marketplaces, some have roadside vendors ...

^ In Texas, the Fernandez family spends around $242 per week.

^ In Tingo, Ecuador, the Ayme family spends around $32 per week.

In more difficult areas, a family might subsist on $15 a week total income.  In rural Kenya, a family might subsist primarily on maize meal (corn meal) plus what they might gather or barter.  Good governance and a healthy economy seem to be the key enablers for improvement.

^ In Germany, the Melander family spends around $568 per week.^

It's a broad spectrum along which we find ourselves and everyone else.  We're all deeply thankful that we can provide for our families, of course.  If we want to understand how the world works, it helps to know what life is like for folks like us elsewhere.













Show your kids; in person is best.  Go see, and stay long enough to make some friends. 

Histronomics - 402

Global Thinking

'Manifest Destiny' turns out to have been arrogance, racism, greed, and murder. 'Lebensraum' (room to live) was a poorly disguised land-grab by Germany.  Japan's expansion into China and through the Pacific was exclusively for ownership and control of the raw materials they needed for survival and the growth of their superior culture.

Colonial intrusion into Africa was equally devastating.  Between the upheavals of war, disease, and displacement, many white-on-white conflicts left half or more of the black population dead and the remainder disenfranchised. None of the colonial powers kept reasonable records of the dead blacks, just the whites.  Estimates of black African deaths vary widely between 12 and 60 million. The Bantu, Xhosa, Zulu, the Nama and Herero ... it was a hundred years before they would again have a voice in their own countries. 

Want a first-hand lecture on the subject? Ask a Masai today. Only now he can tell you the truth since Kenya's new constitution (2010) finally grants him the freedom to speak his mind without fear of being killed for criticizing those in power. Ask apartheid's victims, the millions of them over more than 200 years.

Was there any alternative for the nations faced with increasing population and limited resources? Was there another approach that didn't require the extermination or enslavement of native peoples? Of course. History gives us examples of merging cultures and populations. Some were more easily transitioned than others, but their successes are instructive.

Contemporary globalization is our current opportunity, yet to date, the 'sole purpose' is unchanged. The world financial institutions backed by their governments continue the colonial era's example. Wall Street is today's British Empire, German Reich, and Japanese conquest.

See Banks: Bigger than Countries, 

     The Adult Mind, and

Cities Without Citadels.

Some recommended reading:

Cultures Merging: A Historical and Economic

Critique of Culture

Eric L. Jones

A Biography of the Continent Africa

John Reader

Attempts to conclude the colonial era with acknowledgement by the responsible nations of their wrongdoing in Africa have had mixed results. European countries and America are, at government level, opposed. In 2001 there was an international conference on racism in South Africa. The African countries demanded an ‘apology’ for the slave trade, but European countries would only state that they ‘regret’ it. America and the European countries fear that an apology, an admission of guilt, would bring legal consequences and force the payment of reparations in some form.

The final wording of the conference’s declaration on slavery was agreed as follows: We acknowledge that slavery and slave trading, including the trans-Atlantic slave trade, were appalling tragedies in the history of humanity, not only because of their inherent barbarism, but also in terms of their magnitude, organised nature and especially their negation of the essence of victims.

The United States walked out of the conference before this declaration was agreed, over criticism of Israel.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, an American leader and former Presidential candidate, was interviewed during the South Africa conference. He asked Britain to apologise for its role in the slave trade. He suggested that compensation or reparation should be paid to African countries in the form of reducing debts they owe to the West. 

Jackson said, "If you feel proud of [slavery and colonialism] then say that. But if one has a sincere desire to overcome the ravages of the past it doesn't take much to apologise and move towards some plan for restoration."

Dr Stephen Small of the University of Leicester said of the reparations movement, "The descendants of Africans and of Europeans view the legacy of the slave trade from different vantage points. Africans and their descendants realise that there is nothing that the West can ever do to make right the wrongs committed during slavery and colonialism. But they also insist that the West can begin to loosen the shackles of poverty and economic distress which continue to hold back Africans and Africa.  Only by tackling the unfairness of these systems can we begin together to create a more morally acceptable economic and political system within which the world’s entire population can prosper."

Herero survivors after an escape through
the Kalahari desert.

African prisoners chained up
by German soldiers, 1904.

In just one of the African conflicts, one-hundred thousand Herero were killed by German colonial forces. On 16 August 2004, 100 years later, the German government officially apologized for the atrocities. "We Germans accept our historic and moral responsibility and the guilt incurred by Germans at that time," said Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's development aid minister. In addition, she admitted the massacres were equivalent to genocide.

2014 - an aside:  I sat in conference with two U.K representatives on improving maritime safety.  As we discussed potential technological solutions for the problems faced in Africa's Gulf of Guinea, one of them noted with a wry grin, "We have to be careful how our efforts are perceived by the coastal nations; we've made mistakes there in the past."  A hundred years afterward, lingering distrust still inhibits cooperation and progress.  

See Histronomics - 401 if you're interested.

Skimming Stones

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

Indeed.  We all understand this particular truth.

We know that time well spent with family and friends is more valuable than days in pursuit of wealth.

We know the chance to be with our children is finite and slipping away as they grow.

These are tough choices to insert into our lives perhaps, but the valuation itself is simple math.  True?

The author, J.R.R. Tolkien, had a personal culture behind his Hobbit themes. His grandson Simon Tolkien wrote, "My first recollection of my grandfather is like this: I'm four or five and I'm really scared. He is huge, with a great roar in his voice, and he's coming to get me. I am just about to cry when I see the twinkle in his bright eyes, and realise it's all just fun."

"As an only child," his grandson writes, "I was left very much to my own devices and spent vast amounts of time reading everything I could get my hands on. I first read The Lord Of The Rings when I was nine, and from then on it was my favourite book."

"For me the test of a good book was whether it could transport me body and soul out of the here and now into a magical new world, and The Lord Of The Rings certainly did that. After I finished reading it, I read it again and all the time I plagued my grandfather with endless obscure questions about Middle Earth. What went on in the lands to the East of Mordor? Who were the four other wizards to whom my grandfather alluded? Where were they and what were they doing? I wanted everything to be filled in. My poor grandfather. He did his best. Despite being an old man, he was endlessly patient in answering my questions."

"I vividly remember going to church with him in Bournemouth. He was a devout Roman Catholic and it was soon after the Church had changed the liturgy from Latin to English. My grandfather obviously didn't agree with this and made all the responses very loudly in Latin while the rest of the congregation answered in English. I found the whole experience quite excruciating, but my grandfather was oblivious. He simply had to do what he believed to be right."

"My grandfather was incredibly adept at skimming stones," Simon tells us. "He could make them leap nine or ten times. Perhaps he just had a good eye for the flat ones."

"The sea was warm and inviting in the summer but in the winter the guests would stay wrapped up in the hotel. I still have a letter from my grandfather in which he describes 'a dark afternoon in which great slow waves came silently out of the mist and curled over like oily sea beasts'."

"My grandfather had the knack of being able to talk to a child without seeming like a voice coming from on high."

"He spent a great deal of time with me and his love and kindness helped me through difficult times. ... My mother would put me on the train at Oxford and I would somehow arrive at the other end ... . My grandfather understood how much of an adventure these journeys of mine were. ...  he wrote to me describing a solo train journey that he took all the way from Birmingham to Torquay when he was ten and how it made him feel 'rather grand'."

Rather grand, indeed.

The social psychologist Eric Fromm offers us a comparison between "having" and "being".  He suggests our modern society has changed over the years and become quite materialistic, preferring to "have" rather than "be".  Our productive economy beginning with the industrial revolution has offered the great promise of unlimited happiness, freedom, and material abundance. One might feel that there would be unlimited production and hence unlimited consumption. That great promise failed, of course. 

Materialism seems to feed on itself with those most thoroughly consumed being the primary beneficiaries (or victims).  So, our society nowadays has deviated from its early developmental path. The materialistic nature of people "having" has been more thoroughly developed in our culture than "being". 

A cursory review of popular media, today's replacement for study and inquiry, shows "having" to be the centerpiece.  If we think about it and talk it through, we're aware that our attention would be more profitably spent on "being" rather than the "having". Fromm's premise - this is the truth we know which luxury and plenty allow us to ignore. 

The point of "being" is the more important, of course, as everyone is mortal.  The "having" of possessions becomes progressively more unimportant as the years go by, progressively less satisfying. And as we're uncomfortably aware, the only part which will cross over to the life after death will be what the person actually was on the inside.

So, back to 'skimming stones' with your grandchild, perhaps, and telling stories and encouraging the virtues of character and right thinking. Perhaps that is the more human choice.