Equilibrium is society's best medicine.

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Equilibrium:
society's best medicine.

[ http://www.liberal-insights.org
/socialequilibrium.html ]

What is the single most important change that those of us who want to improve the world should be working on? The environment is crucial,so is arms control. Some would say that politics, war and peace, race relationships, are what matter most. Others believe that spirituality and/or religion are the keys to world improvement.
This web page was inspired by the work of British social scientists who used a book they called "The Spirit Level" to promote the case for what I personally believe might best be called "social equilibrium", i.e. the more fairly and equitably that any social entity's resources are distributed among its members, the better life will be in just about every respect, not just for the poorest or weakest members of that community, but even for its richest and strongest members.

The illustration above shows the leading developed nations with the greatest inequality (in that order). These are the nations that will be used as examples in the graphs below, and the hghest and lowest members of that list are displayed to your right as well.
In addition to the book, these scientists have also created a great web site as well,EqualityTrust.org.uk, where they have provided a wealth of information, including many of the oustanding charts that support the case made in their book.
Before re-publishing the charts here, however, I took the liberty to make a few improvements, such as the font used on the names of the countries to make them more legible. (I wish I could have been able to do the same for the two-letter abbreviations for the states of the U.S.A., but that would have been far too difficult).
Some of these charts may look very similar to others at first, but they differ either because they deal with states as opposed to countries, or because they emphasize the variations that occur among geographical entities as a result of the absolute amount of wealth in those entities, as opposed to variations resulting from differing levels of distribution of wealth within entities.

MOST
unbalanced :

Singapore
U S A (&
Portugal)
the U K
Australia
New Zealand
Israel
Italy
Greece
Ireland
Switzerland
Canada

LEAST
unbalanced :

France
Spain
Netherlands
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Japan

Would you like a better future for the world's children ?
[ with any browser other than Firefox, clicking on the blue
underlined text below will bring you to that specific topic: ]
1) See why the rate of infant mortality in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.
2) See why the rate of infant mortality in each state isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.
3) You would think, wouldn't you, that the the level of child well-being in each country would depend most on the wealth (average income) of each country. But this graphic shows that it doesn't. See why isn't affected by the amount of wealth of the inhabitants of those countries.
4) See why the general well-being of children in each country is affected most by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.
5) See why the rate of childhood violence in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.
6) See why the Educational scores in each country aren't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.
7) See why the school dropout rate in each state isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.
8) See why the teenage birth rate in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.
9) See why the teenage birth rate in each state isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.

Would you like much better Health in your country? 10) See why the rate of obesity in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.
11) See why the rate of mental illness in each country isn't affected by the amount of its wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.

Would you like much less crime
and less money wasted on imprisonment? 12) See why the rate of drug abuse in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.
13) See why the rate of imprisonment in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each country.
14) See why the rate of imprisonment in each state isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.
15) See why the murder rate in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each country.
16) See why the murder rate in each state isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.

How would you like to live longer & happier? 17) See why as this graphic shows, one's lifespan isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of one's country.
18) See why the rate Life expectancy in unequal States isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.
19) See why the level of trust/distrust in one's country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each country.
20) See why the level of trust/distrust in each state isn't affected by the amount of its wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.
21) See why the amount of upward social mobility available in each country isn't affected by the amount of its wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among its inhabitants.
22) See why the rate of Innovation rates in each state isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of each state.

The BIG Picture (Summary)
23) You would think, wouldn't you, that the level of social problems in each country would depend most on the wealth (average income) of those communities? But this graphic shows that it doesn't.
24) You would think, wouldn't you, that the overall extent of health and other social problems in states would vary with the average income of each state's inhabitants? But this graphic shows that it doesn't.
25) Instead, as this graphic shows, the extent of social problems in each state is affected much more by the distribution of wealth among the inhabitants of each state.
26) This graph shows the time line of how the gap between the rich and poor has been increasing over the past 30 years or so in the USA.
27) This graph shows the time line of how the gap between the rich and poor has been increasing over the past 30 years or so in the Great Britain.
28) Finally, here is the excellent summary the authors themselves provide in their book, "The Spirit Level".
29) Here are the ultimate sources for the data illustrated in the graphs on this page and in "The Spirit Level" book .

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the extent of infant mortality in those nations.

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and the rate of infant mortality in those states.

There doesn't seem to be much of a connection between the well-being of its children and a country's wealth (average income).

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the extent of child well-being in those nations.

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and a variety of childhood violence in those nations.

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and educational scores in those nations.

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and the school dropout rate in those states.

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the teenage birth rate in those nations.

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and the teen pregnancy rate in those states.

10)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the obesity rate in those nations.

11)

There doesn't seem to be much of a connection between the wealth (average income) of the various nations, and the extent of mental health problems in those nations :

12)

The rate of drug abuse in each country isn't affected by the amount of wealth, as much as by the distribution of that wealth among the inhabitants of those countries.

13)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the rate of imprisonment in those nations.

14)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and the rate of imprisonment in those states.

15)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and murder rates in those nations.

16)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and the murder rates in those states.

17)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and one's lifespan in those nations.

18)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and one's life expectancy in those states.

19)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the level of social trust in those nations.

20)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and the level of social trust in those states.

21)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the rate of upward social mobility in those nations.

22)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the rate of Innovation in those nations.

23)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various nations of the world and the extent of social problems in those nations.

24)

There doesn't seem to be much of a connection between a state's health or social problems and the wealth (average income) of states.

25)

Notice how the trend line suggests a strong correlation between the degree of income imbalance in the various states of the union and the extent of health and other social problems in those states.

26)

The two graphs below provide a historical perspective of what has happened over the past 30 years or so in the world's two leading English speaking nations:

27)

28)

What greater contribution could we make
to the world's well-being than the following ? "The relationships between inequality and the prevalence of health and social problems shown in earlier chapters suggest that if the United States was to reduce its income inequality to something like the average of the four most equal of the rich countries (Japan, Norway, Sweden and Finland), the proportion of the population feeling they could trust others might rise by 75 per cent - presumably with matching improvements in the quality of community life, rates of mental illness and obesity might similarly each be cut by almost two-thirds, teenage birth rates could be more than halved, prison populations might he reduced by 75 per cent, and people could live longer while working the equivalent of two months less per year." (p. 161)

Concern about social imbalence is not new. Here is what Thomas Jefferson had to say about it :"The consequences of this enormous inequality producing so much misery to the bulk of mankind, legislatures cannot invest too many devices for subdividing property… Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they rise. Whenever there is in any country, uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right. The earth is given as a common stock for man to labor and live on."

(http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=967):

29)

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