A Brilliant Essay On Inequality

WORLD

Back to the Future

Lately it’s been feeling a lot like 1968.

Fifty-one years ago, Americans took to the streets demanding civil rights and an end to the Vietnam War. French students set up barricades in Paris calling for university reforms. Czechoslovak protesters took to the streets in support of more independence from the Soviet Union and further unrest erupted around the world.

It was a time of anger and frustration, a tipping point when much of humanity could no longer remain silent over the status quo.

Now it’s happening again.

A list in Business Insider included protests in Hong Kong, Indonesia, France, the Netherlands, Haiti, Chile, Peru, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, Syria and the United States, where auto workers were on strike until recently in hopes of securing better wages. The news website forgot to mention Ecuador, Spain, Zimbabwe and other countries.

“Another day, another protest,” wrote Reuters.

Unique local issues usually trigger the demonstrations. In Zimbabwe, for example, people are taking to the streets to condemn American and European sanctions on their leaders, who are accused of human rights abuses and electoral fraud, reported Al Jazeera. In Hong Kong, democratic activists say they are resisting Chinese authoritarianism. In France, rising fuel taxes initially caused the furor, which has morphed into rage over living standards and the elites.

But, as the BBC noted, there are some common threads. A handful of forces have produced a climate where ordinary people are increasingly willing to take to the streets and face riot police to air their grievances: inequality, corruption, human rights and climate change.

Some analyze the situation differently. The global economy has been growing, poverty has been declining worldwide and it’s hard to tell if corruption and government incompetence are worse today than in the past.

Instead, Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor of the Washington Post, believed social media and youth movements were key factors in the discontent. “They are able to mobilize large numbers on small issues, such as fare increases, and tap into general discontent that otherwise might have remained unexpressed,” wrote Diehl.

Echoing those ideas, Slate cited research that concluded the growth of the middle class around the world has given rise to more folks who expect better public services, more career opportunities and improved public health, as their leaders cut spending and hike taxes amid sluggish economic growth.

One might ask why protesters in democracies like France or Ecuador don’t vote if they want change. Perhaps they feel as if their votes don’t matter. Democracy could be “stalling out,” a New York Times newsletter, the Interpreter, suggested.

Certainly climate activists like those in this CNN story feel their elected leaders aren’t listening.

When people shout, it’s because they feel as if they aren’t being heard.