The worst of poverties
By
Manuel E. Yepe
"To
be poor in the midst of riches is the worst of poverties" is a
thought by Seneca that seems to guide the ideas summarized in a
substantial article titled "Unequal
America" that
appears in the July issue of Harvard Magazine. It is written by its
associate editor, Elizabeth Gudrais.
The
author cites a study by Prof. Majid Ezzati, of the Harvard School of
Public Health (HSPH) and, along with him, reflects that when one
thinks about the cause of a drop in life expectancy, one thinks
"about an epidemic like HIV, or the collapse of a social system,
like in the former Soviet Union. But such a decline is happening
right now in some parts of the United States."
Between
1983 and 1999, the life expectancy of males dropped in more than 50
U.S….
By
Manuel E. Yepe Read Spanish Version
"To
be poor in the midst of riches is the worst of poverties" is a
thought by Seneca that seems to guide the ideas summarized in a
substantial article titled "Unequal
America" that
appears in the July issue of Harvard Magazine. It is written by its
associate editor, Elizabeth Gudrais.
The
author cites a study by Prof. Majid Ezzati, of the Harvard School of
Public Health (HSPH) and, along with him, reflects that when one
thinks about the cause of a drop in life expectancy, one thinks
"about an epidemic like HIV, or the collapse of a social system,
like in the former Soviet Union. But such a decline is happening
right now in some parts of the United States."
Between
1983 and 1999, the life expectancy of males dropped in more than 50
U.S. counties. For women, the news was worse: it declined in 900
counties. This means that more than 4 percent of all American men and
19 percent of all American women must expect a life as long as — or
shorter than — the people in their home counties two decades ago.
In
fact, the United States, the world’s richest nation, is not the
healthiest. It doesn’t even appear on the list of the 40 nations with
the longest life expectancy.
Of
course, the United States’ decreasing health indicators are not
manifested equitably throughout the population but concentrate on the
least favored, cautions Professor Ezzati’s study, as cited by
Gudrais.
The
disparities in health issues tend to be proportional to income
everywhere. The poor are more prone to get sick and die earlier than
others everywhere, but in the United States the gap between the rich
and the poor is much, much wider than in any other industrialized
nation.
The
author believes the average U.S. citizen is more tolerant about
income inequality. He seeks equality of opportunities when his
European counterparts want fairer wages. In the United States, any
debate about inequalities leads to another debate over whether the
poor deserve help and solidarity or need to be left to lift
themselves up by their bootstraps.
The
enactment of tax policies as a procedure for the redistribution of
the income of the rich for the benefit of the poor, which serves as a
campaign argument in Europe, is not seen the same in the U.S.
According
to the study, inequalities in the U.S. have grown at an ever-faster
pace since the late 1970s and have reached a level not seen since the
so-called "Gilded Age" (1870-1900), a period in the
nation’s history defined by the contrast between the excesses of the
super rich and the squalor of the poor.
Early
in the 20th Century, the share of total national income drawn by the
top 1 percent of the U.S. earners was 18 percent. That share reached
an all-time high of 21.1 percent in 1928. After World War II, a
period of intense economic and cultural development that brought
great prosperity to the American middle class, the top 1 percent of
earners took home less than 10 percent of all income through the
1960s and 1970s. But, from then until 1996, the share of the richest
1 percent rose to 15 percent and in 2006, the most recent year for
which numbers are available, accounted for 20.3 percent of the total
wealth.
In
1965, the average salary of a high-ranking functionary in a bit
company in the U.S. was 25 times the average salary of a worker.
Today, the distance is 10 times greater — a multiplication by 250.
In
terms of life expectancy, the United States occupies the 21st place
among the 30 highly industrialized nations that form the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and 25th place in the
infant-mortality list. In view of the preceding date, it can be
assumed how different the figures in these two indicators are for the
rich and the poor.
The
article mentions some recent data about the "miraculously"
high social mobility in the United States, when it states that 42
percent of the children of parents in the poorest segment remain in
the most backward segment after they reach adulthood. And 39 percent
of the children of parents in the higher segment, continue in that
privileged segment after they become adults.
According
to research cited by Harvard Magazine, the big social inequalities
are always related to scenarios of higher criminality, less happiness
and worse mental and physical health, if all these are not the root
cause. There is evidence that to live in a society with major
disparities — in health, wealth and education — is worse for all
members of society, not excepting the better-situated members, the
article says.
Manuel
E. Yepe Menéndez is a lawyer, economist and journalist. He is
a professor at the Higher Institute of International Relations in
Havana. He was Cuba’s ambassador to Romania, general director of the
Prensa Latina agency; vice president of the Cuban Institute of Radio
and Television; founder and national director of the Technological
Information System (TIPS) of the United Nations Program for
Development in Cuba, and secretary of the Cuban Movement for the
Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples.
