Social Cost of Inequality

There is much turmoil around us these days.  Things just feel unsettled.  Most of us want to focus on a bright future.  Talk positive and look the other way.  A local U. S. District Judge recently in despair over a ruling he had to make, which he found distasteful to his sense of justice quoted Bob Dylan as reported in the Anniston Star:

The 14th Amendment does not protect citizens from greed.As a result, we all suffer. As Smith wrote, the “lack of an adequate education not only deprives those students of a fair opportunity to prepare themselves to compete in a global economy, but it also deprives the state of fully participating, well-educated adult citizens.”

Clearly unhappy that he was forced by law and Supreme Court precedent to rule as he did, Smith ended his ruling with a line from Bob Dylan’s 1962 song “Blowing in the Wind”: “How many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn’t see.”

The answer, in Alabama at least, is “often.”

Because that is the answer, a better quote might be the remark Cassius made to Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves …”

Read more:Anniston Star – Greed trumps racism So says a federal judge examining Alabama’s unfair tax code

The question of greed and inequality persist to bother us as a nation.   As a people who sense the injustice of our time, who long to be beholden to truth and justice, we can’t afford to turn our heads as if to not see what our heart is making clear.  I just saw this morning a Ted Talk’s video by Richard Wilkinson on How Economic Inequality Harms Societies.  I am posting it here that we may not miss what is “blowing in the wind”.  This is truly worth your time and thoughtfulness.