(Sent to VOD by Kenny Snodgrass)
U.S. anti-poverty protesters
(Ed. Note: live ongoing coverage of Egyptian people’s uprising and Mubarak-sponsored attacks on peaceful demonstrators in Tahrir Square in Cairo is still available by clicking on the link to Al Jazeera at right.)
The latest Gini statistics, a figure used by experts to measure inequality in different countries around the globe, show that inequality in the U.S. is much higher than Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, the three Arab countries which are currently engulfed in uprisings amid public’s dissatisfaction with their governments.
Protestors in these Arab countries single-out ‘inequality’ as one of the main reasons behind their revolts.
The notion has raised questions as to why there isn’t an uproar in the U.S.
HIGHLIGHTS
Gini Coefficient World Map
Gini Coefficients are like golf – the lower the score, the better (i.e. the more equality).
According to the CIA World Fact Book, the U.S. is ranked as the 42nd most unequal country in the world, with a Gini Coefficient of 45.
In contrast: Tunisia is ranked the 62nd most unequal country, with a Gini Coefficient of 40. Yemen is ranked 76th most unequal, with a Gini Coefficient of 37.7. And Egypt is ranked as the 90th most unequal country, with a Gini Coefficient of around 34.4.
And inequality in the U.S. has soared in the last couple of years, since the Gini Coefficient was last calculated, so it is undoubtedly currently much higher.
Mubarak supporters attack peaceful mass uprising in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt Feb. 2, 2011
So why are Egyptians rioting, while the Americans are complacent?
Americans – until recently – have been some of the wealthiest people in the world, with most having plenty of comforts (and/or entertainment) and more than enough to eat.
But another reason is that – as Dan Ariely of Duke University and Michael I. Norton of Harvard Business School demonstrate, Americans consistently underestimate the amount of inequality in the U.S.
FACTS & FIGURES
Americans vastly underestimate the degree of wealth inequality in America, and the distribution should be far more equitable than it actually is, according to a new study.
“All demographic groups — even those not usually associated with wealth redistribution such as Republicans and the wealthy — desired a more equal distribution of wealth than the status quo.”
The report … “Building a Better America — One Wealth Quintile At A Time” by Dan Ariely of Duke University and Michael I. Norton of Harvard Business School … (click on Building a Better America for 14-page abstract) shows that across ideological, economic and gender groups, Americans thought the richest 20 percent of the society controlled about 59 percent of the wealth, while the real number is closer to 84 percent.
