Published in the Catalyst, Vol. 33, No. 1 – Summer 2010
The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
By Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
Allen Lane-Penguin Books, 2009
Reviewed by Kathy Vandergrift
Liberty or equality? We tend to think we can’t have both. This book argues that greater equality is the strongest “bastion against arbitrary power” and the best way to a sustainable economy. It combines a wealth of facts, thoughtful analysis, and options to prove its point. In doing so it affirms the Biblical promise: do justice and things will go well in the land.
Comparisons between industrialized countries and between individual states in the United States are used to document the link between disparity, health problems, and environmental damage with higher costs. The book’s analysis of widely accepted facts shows that inequality is a greater social problem than poverty.
Moving beyond statistics, the authors argue that inequality corrodes society because people are social beings; as such trust and acceptance by others are key to health and well-being. There is less trust in highly unequal societies. In addition, these British authors cite numerous polls to show that a majority of people want change from the highly individualistic, consumer-driven models of growth and the huge gaps between rich and poor that hold true in Canada today.
Lack of political will is the missing piece. “Nowhere,” they write, “is there a popular movement capable of inspiring people with a vision of how to make society a substantially better place to live for the majority. Without that vision, politics will rarely provoke more than a yawn.”
Often, books that diagnose the problem of inequality are short on solutions. This one stands out because it goes beyond the recommendation of governmental redistribution of wealth as a solution to propose a combination of policies that lead to more shared ownership and participatory management at all levels of the economy and community life. The authors show even small decreases in the inequality of power can make big differences in the quality of social life and economic sustainability. Creating the political will to do it is the challenge.
