Inequality - Was This Burden Ours?

Introduction

Growing up, I always wondered why there were things I couldn’t have. Perhaps that was a narcissistic way of looking at life, because it meant I prevented myself from seeing the full picture, a picture rooted in empathy, where you acknowledge what you could have but also understand why you don’t have it.

As usual, it’s almost midnight, my best time to reflect, and I’m dwelling on this topic of inequality yet again. I don’t want to ramble. I want this to follow a structure, to show clearly the angles I’m approaching this from. So thank you for tuning in, and I hope it’s worth your time.

The Individual

I looked at my family, and we don’t look exactly alike. I looked at my village, and everyone is different. Everything and everyone differs in some way height, weight, skin color, strength, beliefs, values, and IQ. For some reason, these differences are often treated as simple or trivial, but in reality, they are anything but.

So I pondered: did nature err in its design of us? Surely not. And if not, then why are we so different? These differences shape our individual abilities to navigate life (ceteris paribus), which inevitably leads to outcomes that further highlight how different we are.

Geography

A few weeks ago, I was with a friend, and we wondered why, across nearly every ancient society, women were somehow subjugated to a status “less than” men. It seemed obvious that in primitive times, sheer physical strength, courtesy of testosterone, afforded men certain privileges. So we can clearly see how biological differences shaped outcomes that persisted for centuries.

I don’t want to dive into the debates about human origins, but it’s fairly obvious that across every geographical bloc or continent, people developed distinct physical features. Immigration and population movements may have altered some demographics, but that doesn’t erase the fact that many groups were indigenous to their regions. These groups shared beliefs, traditions, and cultures that differed from others.

In Africa, for example, the people along the Nile River, particularly in Egypt, developed and civilized faster than many groups in Sub‑Saharan Africa, as history shows. Similarly, coastal populations often developed faster than those in the hinterlands. Again, differences leading to outcomes that reinforce present-day inequalities.

Groupings / Governments

It’s fascinating how humans quickly organize themselves into hierarchies. It seems to be in our nature to look up to some form of oversight. This doesn’t surprise me, because again, it all comes down to our differences.

Governments can be as large or as small as community leadership. Regardless of size, people in positions of power, often politicians, tend to sell one central idea to their base: fear. There is always some existential threat that requires the government to “protect” its citizens.

This is where individual and geographical differences reach their climax. These differences converge within governments and shape the broad societal inequalities we see across the globe. History is full of battles and wars. Groups organize themselves to conquer or be conquered. Sadly, this hasn’t changed it just happens on a larger scale now, with the masses having little or no say or understanding of the bigger picture.

The reasons for this tie into yet another critical difference.

Economics / Money / Resources

You can’t talk about inequality without addressing economic differences. This is the most visible outcome of inequality.

So I asked myself: what metric best captures societal inequality? The answer was obvious: economics.

Whoever you had in your life, your experiences, your geography, your appearance, and the decisions you’ve made all lead to one question: What value do you provide, and how is that value perceived by the economy?

There’s a reason China now stands among the world’s most powerful nations despite being riddled with extreme poverty just half a century ago. There’s a reason a country like Cameroon, which in 1982 provided financial aid to South Korea, now has a GDP barely 10% of South Korea’s.

There’s a reason a brilliant but poor child becomes a renowned doctor or engineer, while another brilliant child is bombed to pieces in their sleep. There’s a reason the Vikings stormed the shores of England and France. There’s a reason a group of men sat in Germany and divided Africa like a pizza.

Conclusion

Inequality was either intended by the forces that created this wonderful thing we call life, or it was an accident. Either way, it is the fuel that drives human experience.

If you and I were exactly the same in every way, if countries A and B were identical in people, geography, and resources, why would we protect anything? Why would we conquer or fear being conquered? Why would we save for anything if everything were equally accessible?

Then I thought about what some greats have said: “Together with our differences, we are stronger.” But thinking further, this statement raises more questions than answers. We seem to unite and use our differences only when facing a common enemy. Without one, we become divisive and spiteful, eager to portray ourselves as superior, better, indifferent, or to ignore injustices inflicted on the powerless.

We pick and choose which causes to support based on our own interpretations of what “should be,” even when those causes may not serve the common good. This isn’t to blame our decisions, but to highlight how our differing decisions often worsen the inequalities we claim to fight. But again, who's to say what the common good is when we have no frame of reference? 

It’s almost 2 a.m., so excuse me if I’m not making sense, but that’s the whole point. It doesn’t make any sense.

Thank you.