The Spirit Level: Greater Equality/Stronger Society

I thought this article was interesting for several reasons.  First, it mentioned how the “relationship between health and economic growth has leveled off” as has the relationship between happiness and economic growth.  The article says that while increases in standards in poor countries result in large improvements, this is not true for well-developed nations.  In these countries, increased income has diminishing marginal returns.  Perhaps this is because people only need their basic needs fulfilled in order to live long and be happy.  The authors also presented the idea that how one compares with other people in the same country may affect one’s overall well-being.  This is similar to the idea of stress and the social hierarchy that was explained by the short documentary film we saw in class the other day.  Similar to this article, the film (regarding healthcare) mentioned how stress can greatly harm one’s body and how such stress is usually caused not just by daily activities, but by one’s perceived placement on the social ladder/hierarchy.  

The rest of the article continued to make me question the extent to which social factors can affect one’s quality of life.  The article mentions how inequality heightens anxiety, which in turn increases stress.  This means that it is actually society in itself that is affecting the lifespan and well-being of many individuals.  Society is establishing the idea that everyone needs to be wealthy or be placed high on the social ladder to lead a good life.  This in turn causes those who feel inadequate or who are dissatisfied with their position in life to become stressed without due cause.   It seems to me that society is constructing and facilitating the growth of inequality by establishing the idea that there is a social hierarchy and that one’s placement on this ladder is what is important, rather than one’s individual needs alone.