Alexis De Tocqueville, in his visit to the United States in the 1830s, made an observation that captured the way many Americans have viewed themselves and American society more generally. A society of opportunity based on a relatively even distribution of resources, where those who succeed do so as a result of their initiative, and those who do not only have themselves to blame. Political equality and proactive citizenship were at the root of the equality that he perceived. This view, rosy and naive as it is, has served as a lens through which we interpret our world and is partially constitutive of the American sense of self.
THE CHALLENGE
Profound changes over decades have undercut the plausibility of this foundational notion of American society. Economic transformations in what Americans produce, in where they work, in contractual arrangements, in rates of unionization, in federal legislation, and in citizens’ ability to advance concrete social change, have directly and indirectly contributed to rising inequality, and to the slow adoption of measures to ameliorate it.
We are at an important inflection point wherein academic work, general awareness of inequality, and receptivity to new and innovative policies appear to be coming together to make possible new policy paradigms that mitigate inequality, poverty, and promote equitable opportunities. It has taken a long time for this arc to bend. Inequality has been viewed as a result of the efficient allocation of resources, and as a motivating factor that would drive individuals to work harder at attaining the life systems of those who were on the “good” side of the distribution of resources. Some have suggested that inequality might even be irrelevant since as long as a society was typified by fluid intergenerational change in wellbeing, then inequality is simply a reflection of differences along the life cycle. Contemporaneously, however, it has become difficult to rationalize inequality. Increasingly scholars, policymakers, corporations, and even the IMF have come to recognize the perniciousness of high levels of inequality for many aspects of wellbeing. The consequences of inequality for quality of life and well-being are well documented. What remains less clear, but urgent is how best to address it.
