Inequality

I have written on so many different themes and subjects on this blog that it is difficult to really ascertain where all my interests lie.

But I believed that beneath all these writings, there is an overiding thread. That is the belief in social justice. It is my belief that every man needs to succeed to its best ability and unhindered by social obstacles that prevents him/her from fulfilling his/her best potential. It is just in this world that everyone is accorded to his needs and merits.

Therefore I discovered that I get enraged whenever I feel that certain segments of people are treated unfairly and not given the sufficient opportunity to succeed in life.

It is therefore that I feel inequality is a subject that I would like focused on in the future. Not just economic inequality, but social inequalities and power inequalities. All these various inequalities are intertwined together and have made poverty, the "untouchables" a reality of life.

Economic inequality is not just a function of "have" versus the "have-nots". It is also how society ascribe status to each segment of people that perpetuate this order. It is also power relationships in society seeking to perpetuate this order rather than trying to make this an "equal" and "just" society.

It must be said that I am never against the rich or the elite but rather how some have succeeded by leveraging on this unequal relationships. This is not to say the rich does not merit their status but rather how some may have "abuse" their status at the expense of other segments of society.

There are some of us who say that these people have gotten to their position by the virtue of their intelligence, hard work and dedication. They did not break any law and neither did they do anything "wrong" or "illegal" to get where they are.

But what they never realise is that they have not done anything "illegal" but in my opinion, in certain circumstances, they have done "socially unjust tasks" to ensure that they get to the top.

Take for example, it is never "wrong" in fraternizing with "rich", "powerful" and "elite" in getting what they want, but they have done in a manner which their "interest" are taken care of and not because they want to influence decisions to help the "weak" in society. These are socially "unjust" acts where they swing decisions to their favour over other segments of society which does not have access to these decision makers.

Resource-poor individuals and organizations might not have the ability to influence these decisions as they do not have access to the major decision makers.

It is quite unfortunate that the plight of the "have-nots" continue to be neglected because structurally, they are denied from having their voices being heard.

It is therefore from this on that I have decided to focus on inequality in society as this will never go away.