Jelani Harvey (Columbia) on Economic Inequality

Although the government cannot assuage every problem, it is well known that crime is highly correlated with inequality. Those who are monetarily disadvantaged from conception often feel disenfranchised, and as a result turn to crime when their frustrations go unheeded. The American ideal of “one voice, one vote,” goes out the window, only to be replaced by jaded memories of economic equality. Last year, this fact was placed on full display when the “Occupy Wall Street” movement engulfed Americans who watched buildings burn, tear gas terrorize, and limbs being torn into submission. As concerned citizens, we must ask ourselves if this form of activism is sustainable. Will the wealth gap between the very rich and the very poor hold firm as a new wave of federal cuts take shape with a rising tide of American poverty? The answer is an emphatic “No!” Politicians must realize that if we stay on our current path, the level of rioting plaguing nations such as Greece and Spain will occur in America as well.

By allowing the wealth gap to widen, we say to our poorest and most vulnerable citizens, “Shame on you for being the victim of circumstance,” and we, in fact, stray far from basic ideals of freedom and self-autonomy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau stated in his Basic Political Writings that inequality began when primitive man said, “This is mine.” More than 250 years after Rousseau’s masterpiece, we can all see Rousseau’s theory at work. The wealthy seek to keep, while the poor wish to gain. Although arguments concerning wealth transfers have become more sophisticated in the tradeoffs between economic growth and fairness, the riots and burning buildings will soon transform themselves into anarchy beyond repair. If we wish to stop this from occurring, everyone in our democracy needs to be pulled up by their “bootstraps,” as some would say, instead of the privileged and select few.