Pages

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Unequal

In the book Economic Explained (by Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow), a parade of incomes was depicted in the analogy of a parade of flags. The population is lined up in order of its income. 'Assume that the height of the middle houshold to be 6 feet, representing a median income of $34,000 in 1995. This will be our height as observers. What would our parade look like?

It would begin with a few families below the ground, for there are some hosueholds with negative incomes; that is, they report losses for the year. Mainly these are families with business losses, and are not matched by general poverty. Following close comes a longline of dwarfs who make up about one fifth of all families, people less than three feet tall. Some are shorter than one foot.

Only after the parade is half over do we reach people whose faces are at our level. Then come the giants. When we reach the last 5 percent of the parade - incomes above $100,000 - people are 20 feet tall. At the end of the parade, people tower 600 to 6000 feet into the air - one hundred to one thousand times as tall as the middle height. What is the largest income in the country? Probably our sixty-odd billionaires have incomes of over $100 million. '
- adapted from Jan Pen, Income Distribution, (New York: Praeger, 1971).

It blows my mind away to imagine the two extreme ends of the parade. The analogy provides a very interesting way to see how unequally is wealth distributed throughout the world population. Why is this happening? Is capitalism to be blamed?

Many would agree the saying that the poorer you are, the harder is it for you to get out from poverty. Another interesting logic that I heard (from Chin Tong) was that families with higher income which afford to hire maids, will have more times to go out to work and earn more, and vice versa.

Are our systems built to help the less fortunate?

***
These findings were coupled with the article I read on Malaysiankini on the health service in the rural area in Sarawak. While the urban dwellers are so blessed with high-end medical devices and hospital facilities, villagers in the interior of Borneo has to walk hours by foot just to go to a clinic. If the medical condition get serious, the only way, other than laying to death, is to fly them off to hospitals in town such as Miri. Yet even that, the contractor has failed to fulfill their contract in providing helicopter service. Upon reaching the hospital (if they successfully do), some villagers face the rejection from the hospital as they do not have identity cards. Remember, they live in rural area which is far far away from the National Registration Department, and might not even know how to get there. Yet for those that managed to receive medical assistance, who will help them to pay the bills?

Indeed, these are the people that are 'long forgotten by the nation 46 years after their independence from British rule', as the writer puts it.

One story on unequal distribution of wealth in the world of humankind, and another one on the unequal treatment of social welfare to people who are all being called the same - Malaysians.

I understand neither of them.

9 comments:

Adrian Benjamin Lim said...

sorry ar..didn't read ur post coz too tired dee..just dropped by to say hi to my fellow penangite...

johnsoncn005 said...

Dear Ai Wei,

Long time no see, just dropping by to say hi to my friend here.

Great thought over there. There is never a perfect system in distributing wealth among human. We are living in a capatalistic society, and we are bound to the natural laws of "the fittest survives". Inevitably, someone must lose in order to allow the other gain. There is never a win-win situation. Poverty will always be there as long as humanity exists. There will be people who are filthy rice, and people who are extremely poor.

But this does not mean we cannot do anything to achieve it. We can change the situation by encouraging humanitarian support and charity progression. People need to be educated about the importance in helping others. We need to follow the Great Commandment set by our Lord Jesus Christ "Love others as yourself".

We can start by encouraging our fellow brothers and sisters to give generously to the poor. And in order to encourage them, we must first start from ourselves. It's difficult to be sure how far can we help the poor and needy, by it can be done. All we need is the willingness within our hearts to help others.

For this, I'm still learning how to manage my finance in order to be able to help the poor and needy.

Just 2 cents of thoughts here.

Feel free to reply my comment at my blog. Hope to see you someday in the future and would love to stay connected with my friends online.

Love,
Johnson.
http://eagleinmotion.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Well I assent to but I think the brief should secure more info then it has.

Anonymous said...

Again a good post. Offer your also pen-friend

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Hello!
You may probably be very curious to know how one can manage to receive high yields on investments.
There is no initial capital needed.
You may begin earning with a sum that usually goes
on daily food, that's 20-100 dollars.
I have been participating in one project for several years,
and I'm ready to share my secrets at my blog.

Please visit blog and send me private message to get the info.

P.S. I earn 1000-2000 per daily now.

http://theinvestblog.com [url=http://theinvestblog.com]Online Investment Blog[/url]

Anonymous said...

Making money on the internet is easy in the hush-hush world of [URL=http://www.www.blackhatmoneymaker.com]blackhat seo forum[/URL], You are far from alone if you haven’t heard of it before. Blackhat marketing uses little-known or misunderstood avenues to produce an income online.

oakleyses said...

oakley, gucci, converse outlet, abercrombie and fitch, instyler, ray ban, soccer jerseys, lululemon, iphone cases, nike trainers uk, hollister, louboutin, valentino shoes, vans, reebok outlet, insanity workout, soccer shoes, nike roshe run, baseball bats, ghd hair, north face outlet, vans outlet, giuseppe zanotti outlet, p90x workout, lancel, nike air max, herve leger, mcm handbags, timberland boots, asics running shoes, wedding dresses, hollister clothing, bottega veneta, longchamp uk, nfl jerseys, babyliss, hollister, new balance shoes, chi flat iron, jimmy choo outlet, ralph lauren, north face outlet, hermes belt, beats by dre, mont blanc pens, celine handbags, nike air max, mac cosmetics, ferragamo shoes, nike huaraches

oakleyses said...

ugg uk, replica watches, moncler, moncler uk, karen millen uk, moncler, pandora jewelry, hollister, canada goose, juicy couture outlet, moncler outlet, juicy couture outlet, louis vuitton, moncler, montre pas cher, links of london, canada goose, toms shoes, supra shoes, louis vuitton, thomas sabo, canada goose uk, doudoune moncler, ugg,ugg australia,ugg italia, ugg, canada goose jackets, swarovski crystal, ugg,uggs,uggs canada, louis vuitton, pandora uk, moncler outlet, canada goose outlet, louis vuitton, marc jacobs, wedding dresses, moncler, canada goose outlet, swarovski, ugg pas cher, canada goose, pandora jewelry, coach outlet, canada goose outlet, louis vuitton, pandora charms