Can we really tame inequality: to what extent?

Mark Medoff in his play,” Children of a Lesser God” did justice to mirror a world of inequality. The manifestation of inequality is not only seen through Sarah’s deafness but also through the numerous societal injustices. Inequality has always been a topic of global concern, since time immemorial. A?number of researchers have tried and are still attempting to discover ways of curbing this scourge. That’s why in this article, I will try to answer the question of, if we can tame inequality and if so, to what extent.?

According to the world inequality Report of 2022, some of the contemporary indicators of inequality in societies include:?

• Gender gaps in income, wealth, education, health and political representation.?
• Environmental inequalities in regard to carbon emission, energy consumption and the risk of climate change exposure.?
• The extensive gap between the net wealth of governments and that of private and public sectors?
• The share of income and wealth by the top 1% and bottom 50% of the population in different continents and countries ??

Of course, the back does not stop there, other reports such as The Human Development Report (2021), Global Gender gap report (2021) and the state of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (2021) also had much to contribute towards understanding inequality.?

It is evident that in the modern world, the margin?between the rich and the poor is widening day by day and is pronounced in OECD countries where the average disposable income of the richest is 10% higher. Nobody loves being poor and as a matter of fact, "there is no nobility in poverty” (DiCaprio,2013,0:02:25). ?

That said, one may wonder, why is this gap ever growing. Tell you what, there are very many reasons for this. Some of them include: an increase in private wealth compared to public wealth, deregulation, privatization and the ballooning government debt. The problem with these reasons is that they each have a ripple effect and do not exist in isolation. For instance, when the debt of a nation or state is high citizens will feel the pinch in servicing the debt which will result in a high cost of living. ?

What are we doing as Kenya to try and narrow the gap of inequality? First of all, let me set the record straight. I am neither?a pro-Kenya Kwanza party supporter nor am I an Azimio party supporter, but it is better to credit where it is due. Kenya Kwanza government in the Finance Bill 2023 has proposed changes that will affect the income-expenditure of wealthy individuals and their businesses. One way of curbing inequality is taxing wealth and introducing more taxes for those whose incomes are higher. It is one of the ways of levelling the playing field. The proposal of 35% tax rate for income above Kes 500,00 per month is a commendable move by the government. Moreover, increasing the number of women representations in high positions in the administrative system as done by Brazil is also an effective and rational move.?

Putting an end to inequality is not easy, it requires the power of many people not only just the government or relevant institutions but also everybody to understand the benefits of living in a world where the equitable distribution of resources goes a long way to eliminate crime, poverty and all forms of social economic disparities.?