There is so much to say about inequality and where it comes from. I think it is not necessary at all, as we know it, in order for a just and fulfilling society to thrive. Unfortunately, to think about these things, we only have our and past societies to rely on. We have never seen such a society before; thus, it is extremely difficult to entertain these ideas as if it could or would ever happen; it seems like fantasy and nothing else. So, it will be easy to dismiss them without concrete methods of enforcement.
Simply put, I think the origin of inequality can be summed up as: someone thought of that and someone believed it, now such ideals are implemented individually through prejudice and through legislation. I don’t believe it is simply economical either. Our circumstances were created, various points of interest are at play but at least in our society, short-term profits on a planet with finite resources seem to be the root. Religious ideology, personal experience, etc. All can contribute to how one feels about another, yet the truth of the matter is, most don’t actually know the people they generalize or see in a bad way. I don’t know much about inequality in literature, but I do remember learning about Red Lining, and crying about it, right next to my POC friends.
I believe everyone, regardless of stature, deserves a livable wage, regardless of effort, deserves a home and basic necessities, regardless of identity; we’ve been conditioned that we must work for these things. I think we undervalue those who provide services for us to attain these needs, such as retail workers or food servicers. We don’t need to fight for these things yet in our hyper-individualistic society, we often take more than we need and leave none for others. Inequality can be dealt with within national borders, I think due to cultural traditions and varying legislative power, different things work for different people and not everyone has the same needs, but are all capable of creating a nation where everyone has what they need and no one is unjustly (or at all) discriminated against for x, y, or z.
Inequality is global issue, a human issue, stemming from various places accumulating in our societies and plaguing those who are oppressed by forces looking for their own gain. The founding fathers to us are brutal colonists to others, creating a world where it is most beneficial to them and everyone else is sink or swim. It does not have to stay this way, and things change over time, as does everyone as ever-evolving humans. We can change and adapt to suit our needs, considering everyone as best we can. Our circumstances, needing money to live, drive our lives, we work and work and work to die, but it is not black and white. People work in jobs that don’t provide all they need to survive but love doing it regardless, thus we do not need inequality to motivate, but why must we? Why must someone have better opportunities because there is Jeff Bezos over another who worked every day to improve? And what motivation is that to keep going? Everyone is capable of learning and growing; the expansion of resources is the key. Also, it’s not as if money can only be a motivator if it is scarce, the bar does not have to be so low that people die for water and shelter but not so high that no can possibly attain a billion dollars even if they were working every day for 100 years.
