The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett - Part 2

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson
and Kate Pickett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 52

 February 21, 2017 

Book 16 - The Spirit Level:
Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett (2010)
 Part 2 - 49-102
Reading Time - 1 hour

Now we're into the meat of it! There are some conclusions in this section which, when you think about it, make perfect sense in hindsight.

For example... in societies were social inequality is great, people are less trusting. We tend to hang out with people who are our equals. We also tend to be less trusting of people we don't hang out with. Sooo... if you get a lot of people who are inequal... you get less trust. On a happier note... Canada is more equal than America (yay!) but not as equal as Japan (sad face). Essentially, inequality increases social distance between people - we end up being an us vs. them society.

Inequality also affects mental health. The authors define mental health as accepting and valuing yourself. It is then rather scary to learn than 1 in 10 British children are mentally ill. Affluenza increases our vulnerability and our emotional distress. Whether we have a lot of income or whether we don't... the effects of addiction to income are the same. Because no matter how much we have (whether it is 100,000 or 1 million or 10 million)... we never think it is enough. This makes us profoundly unhappy and... as you might guess... that leads to more drug use.

It then follows that inequality affects physical health as well. Our psychological health has a direct effect on our physical health. Stress affects our bodies physically, which increases disease and weakens our immune system. We get into a chronic fight/flight mode which affects everything. When we are stressed, our body packs away fat much more efficiently. And we tend to crave comfort foods and drinks more. Obesity, as it turns out, is not a class issue. It is, however, an epidemic. In the USA (with an inequal society), 30% of adults are obese. In Japan, (with a more equal society), 2.4% of adults are obese. Yes, genes play a role, but when you run it out over time, the USA has seen a marked increase in obesity which is not gene related (our genes don't change that quickly).

It makes sense, in a weird way. The whole "keeping up with the Joneses"... people buy more than they can afford to keep up with a consumeristic society... but then run into financial problems... and get stressed... and eat more... and exercise less... and the vicious cycle continues.