Reviewed by Joe Mancini
Published in March 2011
“If, to cut carbon emissions, we need to limit economic growth severely in the rich countries, then it is important to know that this does not mean sacrificing improvements in the real quality of life – in the quality of life as measured by health, happiness, friendship, and community life, which really matters. However, rather than simply having fewer of all the luxuries which substitute for and prevent us recognizing our more fundamental needs, inequality has to be reduced simultaneously. We need to create more equal societies able to meet our real social needs. Instead of policies to deal with global warming being experienced simply as imposing limits on the possibilities of material satisfaction, they need to be coupled with egalitarian policies which steer us to new and more fundamental ways of improving the quality of our lives. The change is about a historic shift in the sources of human satisfaction from economic growth to a more sociable society.”
Wilkinson and Pickett are on to something. The title of their book is catchy. People immediately think that it suggests that we need to look at old problems with a New Spirit. The catchy title causes people to think about their own work and to wonder about the systems that they are dealing with. Worse, what about the overarching social issues such as poverty, homelessness, and climate change? Do we ever need a New Spirit! We need a Spirit Level analysis of the systems and institutions that we have allowed to dominate our social landscape.
People sense that we need to address the combination of inequality and the misallocation of resources towards competition, bureaucracy, consumerism and individualism. The level of social and community despair is running deep and we need a Spirit Level of change before the damage to our communities becomes irreparable.
The authors look at the cost of inequality by analyzing community life and social relations, mental health and drug use, physical health and life expectancy, obesity, education, teenage births, violence, imprisonment, and social mobility. It takes a while to get through the information presented, but it is worthwhile, because these are root social issues that need the attention of concerned individuals and communities.
Lynsey Hanley reviewing The Spirit Level in the Guardian suggested that the “most troubling aspect of reading this book is the revelation that the way we live in Britain is a serious danger to our mental health. Around a quarter of British people, and more than a quarter of Americans, experience mental problems in any given year, compared with fewer than 10 per cent in Japan, Germany, Sweden and Italy.” In Canada, we are not too far behind the U.S. and U.K. It is estimated that 20 percent of Canadians suffer through mental health issues.
Wilkinson and Pickett use a series of scatter-graphs compiled through sources such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the US Census to show the evidence of inequality. Reviewers like Hanley shake their head and say the inequality “is impossible to deny.” What comes through on successive levels of analysis of quality of life to wellness to deprivation, is that there is a strong correlation between a country’s level of economic inequality and its social outcomes.
This is not surprising to those who are in the midst of these issues. Canada comes out in the middle with Australia, and continental Europe. Scandinavian countries and Japan are more equal and have less social ills. The U.K, U.S. and Portugal have significantly higher levels of inequality. The poor social outcomes of the latter three countries belie the belief that trickle-down economics solves social ills. The overwhelming evidence presented in The Spirit Level is that it makes them worse.
Wilkinson and Pickett conclude by getting at the heart of the issue. What drives inequality? It is not just systems, it is also our hearts and minds that have to change. Inequality entails “placing a high value on acquiring money and possessions, looking good in the eyes of others and wanting to be famous. These kinds of values place us at greater risk of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorder”. Recognizing this is the starting point to reduce inequality. The authors recommend that we shift the balance from “divisive, self-interested consumerism driven by status competition, towards a more socially integrated and affiliative society”.
The potential to develop a true Spirit Level analysis is the recognition of the importance of the connections to each other that hold us all together. We have lost the language and the actions of the social bond, the relationships that glue us together for the sake of building the common good. This is the work that is calling for attention. We can derive new spirit from the conclusions of Wilkinson and Pickett’s book.
