Did you read The Weekend Australian this week?.. There was an article titled "Fair go nation has gone" introducing a very interesting research conducted by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickette which comes in this book. I even highlighted some only for my readers.. heehee... following is some of cut & paste from the article on The Weekend Australian:-Australia's traditional self-image as the unusually egalitarian nation of the "fair go" with a relatively equal spread of income is badly out of touch with reality, according to these international comparisons, and that inequality risks becoming culturally entrenched unless there are rapid changes.......(omit)....Research in the book and on a supporting website - equalitytrust.org.uk - shows that once societies pass a basic threshold of wealth, equality of income becomes more important than the total wealth of the society or even the average wealth of its citizens...... (omit).... The steeper the social ladder, the more stress everybody, not just the poor, feels about their place on it, The effect are anxiety about maintaining one's place or resentment, anger and self-loathing caused by being at the bottom.....(omit).... "If Australia doesn't do anything to change the reality, then over a few decades the material differences will become overlaid with cultural and social differences, so people will perceive each other as more different... and rich and poor will start seeing each other as a different kind of breed"...
Well, I guess there was a reason for me to feel 'relatively poor' here! I'm going to order this book tomorrow.. Oh, don't you dare to ask me to let you any book as I never lend anyone a book... even to my mum.. I bought her books then I borrowed them and never return them! The image is from Penguin.com.au
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