Reading on Monday, June 27th

Many people think of social inequality as a major factor for other consequential social problems including crimes and various health problems. It is true that more economically and socially advantaged people have higher chances of attaining a better quality of life through better access to education, medicine, and many other advantages. Still, even those economically advantaged people suffer from stress and anxiety in an unequal society. Today, “conspicuous spending” is common among many suburban people. Many materialistic people show off their status through decorating their outer appearance; they’re afraid of being looked down upon by other people around them. Through people’s feelings of inferiority as they compare themselves to others, many of them feel more stressed, anxious, and isolated in an unequal society.


In Wilkinson and Pickett’s writing, “The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger,” they talk about people who are easily to be stressed out with higher anxiety levels. Although many people have attained an adequate amount of wealth in the developed countries, especially in America, authors note that “that people in many developed countries have experienced substantial rises in anxiety and depression” (35). This is because of “unhealthy high self-esteem” reflected by such issues as “threatened egotism” and “narcissism” (37). Because of those “social evaluative threats” (38), people attempt to look good in front of other people. In this unequal society, stress and anxiety are more severe among people who are positioned in the lower levels of social status. In everyday life, they receive more stress by being controlled by people at workplaces and other many social places, where people are positioned above them. “Greater inequality seems to heighten people’s social evaluation anxieties by increasing the importance of social status” (43).


In Kilborn’s article, “The Five-Bedroom, Six-Figure Rootless Life,” the author talks about the lifestyle “relos” (those who have to relocate frequently) who are positioned in the upper middle class, but keep moving their living places because of their occupations. Since they can’t live in a certain place for a longer period of time, “relos have segregated themselves, less by the old barriers of race, religion, and national origin than by age, family status, education, and, especially, income” (151). Although they’re economically more advantaged than others from lower-class positions, they don’t have any deep feelings of belonging to any certain group or any sense of unity with others. Because of their impermanent lifestyles, they easily feel isolated and anxious. Those people from upper classes are no exception to feelings of anxiety and stress present in the unequal society.


Social inequality is problematic for everyone, no matter how much education, income, and wealth they obtain. In unequal conditions, people become more exhausted and stressed about unfairness and undefined fears of being looked down upon by other people. According to current research, stress is one of the major factors that threatens people’s health. Social inequality is really the major problem today that needs to be solved. Social equality should be the foundation for a society based on well-being.