Response To Mack's Climbing The Ladder of Success

In a recent post, Blogger Mack proposed that economic inequality between classes could be a much bigger hit to a country than we realize. From a review by Pickett and Wilkinson of the book The Spirit Level, Mack quotes, "Though Sweden and Japan have low levels of economic inequality for different reasons - the former redistributes wealth, while in the latter case, the playing field is more level from the start, with a smaller range of incomes - both have relatively low crime rates and happier, healthier citizens."

From a capitalist point of view, one could argue that the individual's ability to grow beyond his or her peers in an upper class is a comforting reminder that they live in a culture that rewards hard work and ingenuity. But at the same time, the jealousy created by divided classes could contribute to the higher crime rates, and less happy, less healthy citizens as compared to countries like Sweden and Japan. When looking back on humans from a long-term anthropological standpoint, both sides of the argument are better understood.

For a long period of growth when humans were tight-knit groups of hunter gatherers, the socioeconomic structure was completely focused around the survival of the group as a whole. And these groups could be anywhere from twenty or thirty individuals up through about a hundred and twenty or thirty people, but rarely more than that. So for a lot of our most recent cultural growth and cognitive evolution, we had been naturally selected to survive best as a tribe - a relatively small group of equals, where everybody knows and trusts each other, and everyone's efforts contribute to the well-being of everybody else. There wasn't really any class system, and because it was successful for such a long period of time, humans became accustomed and happy with this structure. It's the same as people today feeling happy and rewarded when they feel part of a team, an organization, or group of friends that has a collective success. It's that same part of our ancient brains that would rejoice and sing and dance after successful hunt that fed the tribe.

It makes sense then, that a more socioeconomically equal country like Sweden or Japan would foster less crime, and happier and healthier citizens. But the flip side of it all is just as ancient - competition between neighboring tribes. Tribes were constantly inventing new tools and technologies, discovering new resources, and working to exploit these advancements in order to out perform the other tribes around them. Basically, if your tribe figured out a better way to hunt or collect water or something than the tribes around them, they'd ultimately obtain a monopoly on the resource. And this division in socioeconomic power from tribe to tribe, would foster greater potential for survival and success for the tribe on top - prehistoric capitalism. So as we progressed into larger tribes, cultures, and now are a globally connected system of nations, we still fall prey to our ancient tribal qualities. Deciding where you stand between socialism or capitalism is ultimately deciding who is part of your tribe and who is not, and who you feel includes you as part of their tribe and who does not.