Inequality In A Society example essay topic

In Britain today there is great inequality particularly in wealth. Is this a good or bad feature of society? It could be argued that the inequality in society today particularly in wealth is acceptable. In society the divide between rich and poor is necessary because we need the poor and un-educated people to perform the menial work e.g. cleaning, tillers, bus drivers, street sweepers etc.

The rich and educated upper / middle class are needed for the more important jobs like politicians, business men / women, economists, and entrepreneurs. This though is a terrible way to define our society, is it correct to divide ourselves by class? Or by education? Or by how much we earn and which job can be seen as more important to the next? One could use the Royal Family as an example and take into consideration that they are rich and well educated but they are only so because of their ascribed status.

It could be said that they do not have important and demanding jobs so they do not necessarily play and important role in society. Is it fair that nurses who do just as an important job as politicians get paid half their wage? It is true to say that it is not just society that divides us, but we are also the cause of the divide because people recognize and relate to what is going on in society and make up their own minds that what is happening is not fair. It could be argued that if everyone in society today received the same income, then there wouldn't be different demands. People today have different needs because of the difference in income.

If everyone earned the same amount of money, then everyone would probably have and want the same thing in life. If society earned a high-income then economy would probably increase and society would thrive but (definitely) so would the prices of goods. Unequal distribution of income in a way is not a bad aspect in society because it depends on what the wealthy do with their money. Take for example Richard Branson. The ordinary working people may respect him on these two basis; he was a working class, un-educated man who worked his way up to the position he is in now and he is not extravagant and wastes his money. He has built up several VIRGIN businesses.

But the rich that waste their money on unnecessary material objects like flashy cars, boats, planes etc would aggravate people in society because inequality in a society always leads to social unrest. Karl Marx who was a communist during the time of the Russian Revolution and World War 1 had strong views towards inequality in society. He believed that "problems of man at the present moment, which is to achieve the best in life, must be removed". Marx who was writing during when industrialization was at its strongest, thought that "the main source of discontent in humans is the inequality between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat classes". In those times there was a huge inequality between in the distribution of wealth and labor.

The Bourgeoisie had "resolved personal worth into exchange value, treating humans as just another resource to be exploited". Workers began to feel very helpless and hopeless because they knew that as the owners became more productive, hardship would grow and this would contribute even more to the "alienation in society". In society today the situation of inequality may not be seen as bad as the situation was then but the point is, we have not been able to escape totally from that situation. The wealthy need to keep the poor in their place just as they needed to a century ago, and the poor are still doing the terrible jobs.

Why? Because that is just the way society has to run. If people in Britain today really wanted to change the inequality in society, what could be done? What if for example we turned towards Communism? The situation would be made even worse.

Yes of course we would all be equal (in wealth) but would we be any happier than we are now. If Britain's wealth was shared out between every single person, in reality we wouldn't really be any better off than we are now. Communism will probably never work because it is good in a way for inequality to be present in society because that is what drives people, it motivates them to work harder and aspire to be prosperous. If we lived in a communist society, there would be absolutely no motivation because no matter what you did, you will always receive the same income as your neighbors. Is it fair for someone doing a job that requires a high level of intelligence and hard work, to earn the same money as someone who is for example, a street sweeper? It is right to say that in a matter of fact, we are not all equal because each individual in society has different's kills, abilities, education and intelligence when compared to the next person.

If communism existed today in society there would be a steady drop in intelligence, skills etc because it won't be necessary to be determined, or hard working because you would never really aspire to anything in life, you wouldn't be "worth more" than the next person. So we must ask ourselves, if communism isn't the answer then what is? What can be done to solve the problem of inequality? We could try to change certain factors like increasing wages in jobs like nursing, policing etc, reduce tax, providing education to the less privileged etc. The last point could be debated because some people argue that the poor are not always victims of inequality but victims of themselves. They may have or have had access to money, or an education but they may have not taken advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Inequality is not always caused by social systems but actually by social action. If all the suggestions mentioned were considered and granted, will there finally be equality in society. Will society function in total consensus? In my opinion, I very much doubt it because no matter what society we lived in, a democratic society or even a communist society, everyone will never be seen as equal because it is part of human nature to look down at others.

Communism only solves the problem of wealth, not for example the inequality between different races. Inequality is never a good aspect of society. It leads to not just social unrest but worldly unrest. It can be the cause of war, famine, slavery etc. It leads to so many problems in the world but try as hard as we may to distinguish it, it will always exist and anyway, who is to say that inequality in society is just meant to be.