Class & Inequalities: Will there really be equality in the economic aspect?

In this century where democracy prevails, the majority hopes to move to a more equal and fairer world. But my question is, is equality ever possible in the economic aspect?
In the lecture, ideas of reducing poverty were vehemently discussed. But, within a country itself, is it possible to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and how? We can introduce the social welfare system like what the British did in the 1940s. Subsidies were given to those running business and social services were either free or highly subsidized. However, it is argued that the poor will become reliant on the government and have no incentive to work or be efficient as they feel that the government will support them no matter what. If everyone has this mentality, nobody will want to work! There would not be a division between the rich and poor. But it upsets the forces of the economy and capitalism will not thrive. Is it advisable then, for such a policy, when nobody will drive the economy?

Income can also be redistributed from the rich to the poor to produce a fairer society. However, given the human nature, the rich is bound to make protests. What for their hard work and efforts then if the rewards are not theirs? Nobody will be willing to put their best foot forward at work anymore. Then, where do we find the income to redistribute? Furthermore, who shall be in charge of the income redistribution even if we adopt the policy? Is the government completely reliable? But there are corrupted governments like Indonesia’s Suharto. Some suggested handing the responsibility to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). But in the light of incidents where the head of charity organizations like the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in Singapore mishandled funds, how can people trust them completely? Then, who is capable of taking up the responsibility?

Another alternative would be to provide the same opportunities to the poor. We can provide everyone education and send them to training, like what Singapore did to ensure that its pool of workers are still competitive. Despite all these, it still largely depends on one’s abilities and meritocracy for one to climb the corporate ladder. We still fall into Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest, so we are still trapped in the vicious cycle! It is impossible to close the gap between the rich and poor.

On the other hand, are we capable of bridging the gap between the rich and poor nations then? It is argued that ethically, the richer nations should help the poorer ones. But the question is, how much aid would be suitable so that they will not be over-reliant on foreign aid? It is difficult to judge. According to the UN World Food programme spokesman, the Africans are just too poor to feed themselves whenever there’s a slight disruption in their environment. Millions of them have next to nothing to eat. Then, are we able to help them forever? Are we able to give them aid forever? It is impossible! It is also impossible for us to change the environment to be suited towards agriculture and impossible for the whole lot of them to leave their country. Moreover, how will the people in the rich countries feel when resources are given to other nations over a long period of time? They will not be happy as there are also poor people in their own countries who needed help too.

Some even suggested we can rely on the world organizations such as the UN, WTO, IMF and more to provide capital, resources and technology to the poor countries to improve their lives. But there are concerns that the aid provided comes with strings attached so much so that the poor countries are exploited instead of showing signs of improvement. These organizations are mostly influenced by the rich countries like America and British too. Which means, if any policies made will have negative effects on the rich nations, they may oppose the policies and aid will not be given to the poor nations. There are also failures of such organizations too. The UN humanitarian chief mentioned that as many people die in Congo every eight months as the 2004 Tsunami. They still fail to help the poor. Also, even if free education is provided to these people, will they be willing to wait till the children complete their education and find better means of life? Can hunger and poverty wait?

Thus, it seemed impossible to reach equality even though many advocated it.