World democracies are apparently moving to a state of being “of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich”! This is a phenomenon that has been observed for more than 50 years across the world in different “democratic countries”.
This is antithetical to what Abraham Lincoln tried to preach and practice through the dictum “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” as pillars of democracy. Basically, his aim was to define the practicality of following, in real life practices, the principle of “No Slaves, No Masters” as to what the core of democracy was!
Democracy encourages “the people to judge and act for themselves”, without harming anyone. In a functioning democracy, “all the governed” exercise an “equal voice in the government”. Lincoln was a “slave”, because as an adolescent, his father (Thomas) had rented him out to neighboring farmers, with all the proceeds going back into his father’s hands. Lincoln certainly knew the plight of slaves working against their own choice for arbitrary masters.
At the very least, can we consider the following possible solutions to economic and political inequality? Can we use these as metrics to objectively evaluate how any democratic country has fared on a periodic basis (at least on a yearly basis)?
[01] Increase economic mobility among the people.
[02] Tax corporate profits and investments more to earn a fair share for the government.
[03] Raise the minimum wage.
[04] Reduce the debts of college graduates.
[05] Improve education for all children, and let them gain access to higher studies based on their merits, and not economic status.
[06] Reduce the influence of money in politics and cap contributions to fixed limits.
[07] Even out disposable family incomes.
[08] Make business taxes and profits part of a compliance issue.
[09] Mentor low-income children and help them gain access to higher education.
[10] Jump-start vocational education for all who are interested and eligible.
[11] Improve the country’s self-defense, without spending exorbitantly on unnecessary wars.
[12] Cut down inflation and factors that raise prices by price gouging institutions.
The wealthy have a right to their profits! However, are they willing to contribute more to the less privileged people, through taxes to their governments (this applies to all the democratic countries)? Are they forgetting their own workers who helped their organizations reach soaring profits? Will the blood, sweat, and tears of the workers amount to nothing compared to shareholders?
I believe that we can reach an objectively equitable solution if we approach problems in any democracy through the eyes of the forgotten human beings!
Please read about the Gini Coefficient of wealth distribution. This is a simple and elegant method to understand how wealth can be distributed fairly, by considering meritorious institutions/individuals without leaving out all types of workers, as well as the poor and middle-class families. The links are given below for anybody who wants to study more.
- https://www.intmath.com/blog/mathematics/the-gini-coefficient-of-wealth-distribution-4187
- https://www.intmath.com/blog/mathematics/database-of-happiness-1080