Injustice, Inequality and the CutsDanny Dorling, public meeting organized by Equality NW5 April 2011, 6.30-9pm, Friends Meeting House, Manchester

5 graphs from the book and 5 new pieces of evidence

Elitism is believing that just a few children are sufficiently able to be fully educated and only a few of those are then able to govern; the rest must be led – unequal in ‘potential’.

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The tenets of injustice:1. Elitism is essential – for economic efficiency? 2. Exclusion necessary - the poor will always be with

us no matter how rich we are. Because we cannot afford to alleviate poverty?

Public Expenditure (%GDP) International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Economic

Outlook Databasefor October, Washington, DC, IMF, 2010http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/index.aspx

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Those of the world’s 25 richest large countries which are in Europe + USA

Public Expenditure (%GDP) International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Economic

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Rich World Inequality League

Ratio of the income of the best-off tenth to worse of tenth of households

17.7 Singapore 15.9 US 15.0 Portugal 13.8 UK13.4 Israel 12.5 Australia 12.5 New Zealand 11.6 Italy10.3 Spain 10.2 Greece 9.4 Canada 9.4 Ireland 9.2 Netherlands 9.1 France 9.0 Switzerland 8.2 Belgium8.1 Denmark 7.8 S. Korea 7.3 Slovenia 6.9 Austria6.9 Germany 6.2 Sweden 6.1 Norway 5.6 Finland4.5 Japan

The 24 richest countries in the world with a population of 1 million+Source, UNDP world development report 2009, not updated since then.

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Talk of cuts returning us to ‘2005’ are disingenuous‘Still’ 3% higher than 2002 by 2015, but much higher unemployment,lower wages so more in-work benefits needed, an aging populationso higher health costs, some 51% of women attending university sowhy not 51% of men, higher school costs, and debt payments tomake, and – in 2002, no Iraq war to pay for (‘defence’ up 2% ’01-’05).

Thanks to Jon Swords for this and next three: http://www.envplan.com/graphics_a.html

Three terms: £10bn under, £31bn over (progress), £74bn over (bail-out)

£22bn more in 5 years +20bn

+£14bn ▼

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In short. The 1st Labour government saved moneyThe 2nd Labour government moved spending towardsthe European Union norm – but still much lower.The 3rd Labour government (2005-2010) reducedspending as a % of GDP until the crisis of 2008.Sources – Jon Swords (1997-2008), and IMF

2005 election notional resultsConservativeIndependentLabourLiberal DemocratNationalistRespectSpeaker

May 2010 General Election WinnerConservativeGreenLabourLiberal DemocratNationalistSpeakerVacant

Spot the difference…. 2005 to 2010

Each parliamentaryconstituency isdrawn with its arearoughly proportionalto its electorate.

2005 results havebeen projected onto 2010 boundaries.

Are we becoming more segregated by voting?

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Voter segregation now risen for the seventh general election in a row. Only 1918 more segregated than 2010.

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The tide changed 1968-1974

• The rise in electoral segregation has coincided in Britain with the increased acceptance of arguments that suggest some people are worth much more than others. Justifying injustice.

• In 2010 the Sunday Times Rich List 1000 were each ‘worth’ £335.5 million (+30%).

• In 2011 the UK billionaire count rose by over 10% …. as did unemployment.

A small number believe prejudice is natural, greed is good and despair is inevitable…

• They have come to believe that most others are naturally, perhaps genetically, inferior to them. And many of this small group believe that their friends’ and their own greed is helping the rest of humanity as much as humanity can be helped; they are convinced that to argue against such a counsel of despair is foolhardy.

Income inequality has risen – before & after taxlines below are share of the best-off 1% (‘Injustice’)

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Inequalities in health (‘Injustice’). The two lines below are how more often people in the poorest areas die aged under

age 65, and how less often those in the best-off areas2010

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Rise in anxiety and depression amongst older adolescents in the most unequal affluent countries (source – ‘Injustice’)

There was a rapid rise in the number of older school children reporting concerns 2008-2009 before the government cancelled the ‘TellUs’ survey in summer 2010. How anxious would you be now – if you were age 15 today?

Politically it is very hard for the last government to blame this one for rising inequalities. Health

Inequalities 1999-2008 (summary):

Figure 3. Inequalities in life expectancy between areas in Great Britain 1999–2008 Source: Difference between the best and worst-off districts, 1999–2008 (ONS).

But health inequalities may have finally fallen slightly in 2009 between areas.

Almost everything that could be done to increase them is occurring now. Especially in housing....

Conclusion: The near future really will be very different, because, for at least the last six human generations, the near future has changed radically with each single generation. Don’t despair that there won’t be change. Don’t assume it will be for the better, nor necessarily for the worse. The very least we can do is describe clearly the crux of our present predicament – that much that is currently wrong is widely seen as either inevitable or justifiable.

There are many alternatives, elsewhere in the world today, in our past, and in our imaginations and aspirations.

Tax the wealthy (reparation), cut what is waste (war), don’t saddle future generations with debt (fees), understand that inequality causes poverty, concertina down incomes in the public sector and for any subcontractor, introduce a ‘right to sell’ to deter housing speculation, stop blaming immigrants – so many alternatives – so where to start?