Think
about someone that you admire or respect. It is probably that person’s
achievements, skills, or successes fueling your admiration. That’s a healthy reaction.
The alternative is envy resulting
from these same successes or achievements. Envy is the basis for the Inequality
Gap rallying cry. There are a number of bureaucrats in government, and their obedient
citizens, sparking this interest angling for an extra poke through the paychecks
of the achievers.
This talk
of an Inequality Gap aims to reduce the gap by reducing the take home pay of
the highest earners. A true fix would, instead, reduce the gap by allowing
for those on the lower end to raise themselves up. Envy fuels an endless
cycle of coveting the assets of those on top, even if those on top had once
been on the bottom and ascended due to the strength of their success. By
this current ‘rallying cry’ formula, they will have become the target of envy
and must themselves be taken down.
If,
however, praising of achievement became the new rallying cry, the endless cycle
would become one of strengthening support as people strive for their own success
rather than shaking down someone else’s. The goal should be to raise oneself
up to decrease the gap, not bring
someone else down to achieve that end.
In fact,
let’s dig deeper and find the cause of the income inequality gap. The cause is
a result of a Values gap. Find out what compels a successful person to attend
night school and seek an MBA? What motivates someone to sacrifice leisurely evenings
at home instead to work 70 hours a week to get their business off the ground?
What inspires someone to prepare at night for the next day at work instead of watching
television deep into the night? How does someone find the stamina to cobble
together two and three decades in an industry learning and honing skills that
ultimately result in a commendable income? Encourage people on the lower
spectrum of the gap, if they are interested in bettering their position as
measured in this way, to emulate a few of these values. If inequality resolution
is sought, address the cause, not the visible symptom of the gap.
There is
nowhere else in the world, outside the United States, where upward mobility is
such a realistic possibility, but only if people put in the effort and strive
for success. Let the endless cycle of achievement fuel each generation to build
on the successes of the generations before them. Filling in the Income Inequality
Gap comes with building each other up, not banding together to tear down a few.
-klem
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