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Economic inequality is bad because it has a profound negative effect on most people's self-esteem and ability to enjoy life. With high inequality, money become

Economic inequality is bad because it has a profound negative effect on most people's self-esteem and ability to enjoy life. With high inequality, money becomes more valuable and people start to think of everything in terms of money. Even romantic relationships become money-oriented. It's not uncommon for marriages to break up because of financial reasons. Wealth inequality causes more human suffering than moderate poverty. People who lived in communist Russia will often tell you that people were happier under communism, even though they didn't have much - Often, they had to farm vegetables from their own gardens to supplement their diets. But they were happy because they knew that they had the same as everyone else. Also, people had no ulterior motives to do anything - When people liked you, they liked you because of who you were. When people did something nice, they did it because of purely altruistic reasons. In capitalist society, money underlies the behaviour of everything done by everyone. You can never know if a person is good or bad because you never know their true intentions. I think the media coverage of wealthy people is itself a bigger problem than inequality itself. The media motivates people to work harder and acquire more wealth. Without media, only innately passionate people would launch startups. Today, most people who start a company do it because they want financial rewards. It is human nature to want equality. It reminds me of a Russian joke about a man who finds a genie in a bottle. The genie tells the man that he can get anything he wishes but that his neighbour will get twice as much of whatever he gets. The man pauses to think for a moment and then says: "Take out one of my eyes."

the_cat_kittles 11y ago
this is essentially how i feel as well- do you know of any good longer form essays on this?
melted 11y ago
Much of that "people were happy under communism" BS is just that: BS. As anyone past the age of about 30 would tell you, you tend to forget the shitty stuff a lot faster than the good stuff. As a result we often hold these romanticized notions of how things used to be. Yet if you actually go ahead and look at some videos from 20-30 years ago from those parts of the world, you see North Korea. No one seriously wants to go back to that, except for US "progressives" who believe rich people should not exist.
- jondubois 11y ago
  A lot of what we (the west) believe about communism is shaped by western propaganda (though western propaganda is more about exaggerations and omission of facts than outright lies so you could argue that it's not as bad). If you ask old Russian people who were around at the time, they will often tell you that things were good.
  - melted 11y ago
    I've done just that, in fact. That lasts exactly until they start remembering in greater detail how things _actually_ were, without all the unfounded nostalgia. And things were pretty fucking harsh even by the modest standards of today's Russia, both economically and politically.
  - punee 11y ago
    Yeah, it's just too bad we can't ask the (millions of) old Russian people who were around at the time and who got killed. Are you fucking kidding me?
siberianbear 11y ago
I'm an American who has lived in Russia for a few years. I speak Russian fluently as second language. I've discussed this topic in depth with Russians from various backgrounds. I think that your point ("People who lived in communist Russia will often tell you that people were happier under communism") is unsubstantiated. I've heard this a FEW times, but mostly from older (60+) unskilled laborers (like taxi drivers) who are simply unable to adjust to the new world. Almost all Russians realize that their country is better until capitalism. (If you want to call what they have here 'capitalism', it's more like 'crony capitalism'). Nor do I agree with "It is human nature to want equality". Humans will always jockey for status and power. That is human nature. If it can't be done with money, then they will use whatever other kind of social 'currency' exists to try to rise in the hierarchy of status... just like the pigs in 'Animal Farm'... or communist party leaders in the Soviet Union. Mostly, people are who complaining about inequality are really complaining that they ended up at the bottom of the hierarchy and have how no clue how to or no willingness to climb it.
- jondubois 11y ago
  The part of people that wants equality is what I call human nature, the part that wants personal rewards is our animal part.

the_cat_kittles 11y ago

this is essentially how i feel as well- do you know of any good longer form essays on this?

melted 11y ago

Much of that "people were happy under communism" BS is just that: BS. As anyone past the age of about 30 would tell you, you tend to forget the shitty stuff a lot faster than the good stuff. As a result we often hold these romanticized notions of how things used to be. Yet if you actually go ahead and look at some videos from 20-30 years ago from those parts of the world, you see North Korea. No one seriously wants to go back to that, except for US "progressives" who believe rich people should not exist.

jondubois 11y ago
A lot of what we (the west) believe about communism is shaped by western propaganda (though western propaganda is more about exaggerations and omission of facts than outright lies so you could argue that it's not as bad). If you ask old Russian people who were around at the time, they will often tell you that things were good.
- melted 11y ago
  I've done just that, in fact. That lasts exactly until they start remembering in greater detail how things _actually_ were, without all the unfounded nostalgia. And things were pretty fucking harsh even by the modest standards of today's Russia, both economically and politically.
- punee 11y ago
  Yeah, it's just too bad we can't ask the (millions of) old Russian people who were around at the time and who got killed. Are you fucking kidding me?

siberianbear 11y ago

I'm an American who has lived in Russia for a few years. I speak Russian fluently as second language. I've discussed this topic in depth with Russians from various backgrounds. I think that your point ("People who lived in communist Russia will often tell you that people were happier under communism") is unsubstantiated. I've heard this a FEW times, but mostly from older (60+) unskilled laborers (like taxi drivers) who are simply unable to adjust to the new world. Almost all Russians realize that their country is better until capitalism. (If you want to call what they have here 'capitalism', it's more like 'crony capitalism'). Nor do I agree with "It is human nature to want equality". Humans will always jockey for status and power. That is human nature. If it can't be done with money, then they will use whatever other kind of social 'currency' exists to try to rise in the hierarchy of status... just like the pigs in 'Animal Farm'... or communist party leaders in the Soviet Union. Mostly, people are who complaining about inequality are really complaining that they ended up at the bottom of the hierarchy and have how no clue how to or no willingness to climb it.

jondubois 11y ago
The part of people that wants equality is what I call human nature, the part that wants personal rewards is our animal part.