Inequality Exists Forever?

(A Term Paper on Social Conflict Theory)

One of the enduring social issues our world has been facing is inequality. This is
connected to the “Social Stratification Theory” of Karl Marx saying that conflict
arises because of unequal resources of people and culture resulting to the creation of
levels or classes. Because of different social classes, people tend to think that
someone is more powerful than others and many are less fortunate than fewer groups
of people. As a result, protests and battle cries for equality emerge in the society and
people of “lower classes” tend to suffer the fate of of being less privileged. The
question now is, “Will this social issue exist forever as people are engrossed not to
change their life situations?”
Let us begin our examination with the poverty that has been killing millions of
people around the world. According to statistics, almost half of the word or over three
billion of people live on less than $2.50 (approximately 100 pesos) a day (Shah,
2013). People of “lower class” always experience extreme hunger and desperation
because of the scarcity of resources. On the other hand, those who belong to the
“middle class” and “higher class” enjoy much of their wealth and power disregarding
the condition of the poor. Worse is they do their best to maintain as powerful as they
can to suppress even the right of the less fortunate. Because of frustration, poor people
hold on to the “kapit sa patalim” philosophy which obviously results to committing
crimes and unlawful acts. People die of hunger and they even kill others just to satisfy
their stomach. Ironically, the “survival for the fittest” has been resulting to taking the
lives of others just because the frustration of not having money and food. Moreover,
millions who are in hospitals and worse, in graveyards are victims of the never ending
poverty which shows that “equality” does not really exist in the word, does it?
As people commit crimes to overcome poverty, so as the people who “enjoy” the
benefit of being in the “upper class” dubiously commit the worldwide greed and evil
passion for money. Yes, corruption as its best. According to recent Global Corruption
Barometer report, corruption is evident in many countries especially in political
parties within nations (Ortiz and Rose, 2016). Many think that corruption is one of
the reasons for this poverty. If there is no corruption, the distribution of wealth and
power will never be a problem. If there is no greedy and selfish aspirations to possess
money, “social stratification” will not exist. Nevertheless, rich and influential group of
people tend to influence everything in this world as if they are the only people having
rights and privileges. The concept of “humanity” is obviously covered by the cloaks
of too much wealth and power. What more? People of “upper class” do not show
mercy even they really know that majority of “humans” like them are suffering from
widespread hunger and diseases.
Poverty also results to broken families. Parents choose to leave their families for
the sake of overcoming poverty. An estimated of 2.2 million Filipinos work aborad
(OFW) from period of April to Septermber 2016 according to Philippine Statistics
authority. They work abroad for “greener pasture”. The children grow without the
guidance and love of their parents. Eventually, these children grow without proper
discipline and manners. They are even involved in bullying and worse is they are
being bullied because of their “broken” homes which is exactly not their fault. How
about the parents who went abroad? Do they receive fair treatment from their foreign
bosses? No. When you watch news, many domestic workers are victims of fraud,
maltreatment, abuse, and even murders because of the degrading perspectives of
foreign people to “poor” Flipinos.
Secondly, the equal justice also seems not happening in the world. The “blind”
justice looks like myth and fictional nowadays. According to research conducted on
2014, 4.1% of people sentenced to death are later found innocent. If you belong to
“lower class”, it is rare or even impossible to experience decent and fair court
procedures. Meanwhile, the “upper class” people do not worry because their money
can buy justice. They even influence and twist the “truth” because they are “more
powerful” than the poor. Worse is people are convicted and even sentenced to life
imprisonment and death penalty for the crime they never commit: the obvious fact
that even in the world of the court and order, “the rich are innocent” and “the poor are
guilty”. Now, will this evil doings end? Think twice.
Furthermore, the culture of different nations tend to show that inequality really
has been existing. The addiction and illogical passion for “Western” culture is
prevalent in majority of the countries worldwide. Let’s take a look in our country, the
Philippines as a clear example. We Filipinos tend to treat our local products as inferior
to foreign brands. Admittedly, Filipinos choose “Hersheys Chocolates” over our
“Cacao Choco”, “Parisian” over “Rusty Lopez”, “Lamborghini” over “Tamaraw Fx”,
and many more. Moreover, fashion styles are really influenced by Americans and
Europeans. White skin is seen as beautiful and dark skin, our natural skin tone, is
treated as “ugly”. As a result, different whitening and “beauty” products are
advertised showing that acceptance to the society is connected to the color of the skin
and the attractiveness of your face. What more? Our food is highly influenced by the
“superior” countries. Practically, “spaghetti” is the favorite and looks more decent
than our own native dishes. Even in restaurants, foreign dishes are more expensive
than our local delicacies If you look in different occasions like wedding, birthday,
debut, etc. You will see these foreign foods dominating the scene. The truth is, even
the language is affected by inequality. When you speak fluently in English, “pinoys”
look at you as “sosyal”. On the other hand, if you are not good in this universal
language, they treat you as “cheap” or “not intelligent”. Even in schools, the use of
the English is becoming widespread. Teachers and students tend to treat English as a
very special language and look at our own language as an inferior one. Now, will this
“western” mentality end?
Part of the culture is music which is obviously poisoned by discrimination and
inequality. Not only the choice of music is affected but also its content. If you look at
the world, foreign songs and even dance craze dominate the scene. Filipinos are
lovers of “KPOP” and “EXOS” and one of the reasons is these Korean people who
has “cute” language and “beautiful” skin and faces. What more? “Ed Sheeran” songs
also dominate the radio and music industry. The Original Pilipino Music (OPM) is
declining in the mainstream. No one today listens seriously to “Asin”, “Sampaguita”,
“Hotdogs”, “VST and Company”, etc. Because teenagers today call them as “baduy”
or “sobrang makaluma”. Paradoxically, even our own native singers tend to choose
foreign songs whenever they perform on stage. The question now is, “Will this unfair
treatment to our own music end?” Not seriously.
The government which should have served as our last resource to solve inequality
is ironically the promoters of it. Do you see politicians riding in luxurious and
extravagant cars compared to “regular” members of the society riding tricycles and
“de padyak”? Do you see higher government officials living in their mansions and
numerous resorts while majority of “poor” live in squatter areas? Do you see the
government campaign for “western” style of education curriculum? If the answers are
yes (obviously they are), then our government is not alleviating but rather intensifying
inequality. It hurts to admit the truth but all of these politicians are “corrupt”. They
“look good” outside because of their flowery words and “good to the ears” promises
especially during campaign and election period but they will be gone after attaining
wealth and power. Yes, there are some who are helpful and generous but who knows
that these people are also “evil inside”. Now, the question is, “who is our last resort to
solve inequality?” It seems no one.
The question now is, why is this inequality not ending? The reason why
inequality seems to remain forever is inside the mind and heart of people: doubt and
fear. Because of lack of courage, people tend not to change their life situation.. There
is a saying that “Ang mayaman ay lalo pang yumayaman at ang mahirap ay lalo
pang naghihirap” (Rich people continue to become rich while poor ones remain
poor). What do people think about this issue? Yes, they think of the solutions and even
display protests and battle cries to alleviate the mentality of social inequality.
However, majority does not want to join. Many people are satisfied and pretend not
seeing the discrimination going on in the world. They argue that this situation will
never end as it is already written in the Holy Testament that this world is going to end.
As a result, they avoid reckless and fiendish acts to fight people who promote
inequality. Believing in religions is not the root of fear but the state of being
“unfaithful” of people which tend to create more doubt and discouragement. People
choose to stay in their comfort zone an be satisfied on surviving each day than to
oppose fiercely the evil doers who creates discrimination and bias. They think that
opposing and going against these people will cost their lives. It might be true but what
will happen to our world if there’s no one or if everyone stops being a “hero” to stop
the suppression?
Another very important question is, “what is the solution for this never ending
discrimination and unequal perspectives?” Many suggest, especially religious people,
that it might not be solved as the world is going to its end. The belief to the Holy
Scriptures in one of the internal forces which make us understand why this inequality
never ends. Rather, the bible says that this unfortunate event will continue until the
second advent of the Lord. In addition, according to the scriptures, the cause of this
immorality is the intentional commitment of sins of mankind which resulted to
punishment and inevitable curse to the world. However, the same holy book is saying
that love to God and to your neighborhood may lessen and possibly alleviate the
social problems including inequality. The commandment “love your neighborhood as
you love yourself is one of the suggested solution to stop and end the unequal
treatment of one another. Hence, if people will love one another and forget their
selfish ambitions, inequality and discrimination will come to its end. The next inquiry
is, “Does everybody believe to this Holy Scripture?
The next problem people face today which also lead to inequality is the state of
being diverse in culture and belief. Although majority comprise the Christian
community, still, many are adherents of “non-believers”. They tend not to believe to
the Supreme Creator of heavens and earth but to their own understanding and
philosophy. They do not incline themselves to the notion that someone up there
creates everything, including love, for humanity. Further, they are skeptic and abstract
in terms of what is right and what is wrong. Moreover, they explain things as if
everything is a product of science and human intelligence. As a result, the culture
becomes more diverse and people has been debating about the “truth” of this world.
Many people now do not rely on “faith” but rather on “philosophy” and
“intelligence”. Eventually, it just leads to disaster as their so-called “wisdom” does
not produce good things. It is evident to their irresponsible exercise of freedom
because God’s laws do not exist so they are liberated to do whatever they want to the
extent that they believe that they are more powerful than others. Ultimately, they
abuse others and disobey even “man’s laws” just because of illogical reasoning that
they are more intelligent, wealthy, and powerful compared to others.
According to Marxism or Social Conflict Theory, every change in the society is
the product of conflict between classes. They even argue that the conflict for the
attainment of resources is the foundation of society (Engels & Marx, 1848). Hence,
this theory really is one of the evidences that hierarchy exists resulting to inequality.
The conflict between classes is a realistic proof that people, even all humans, are not
equal in a sense of the attainment of power, social status, wealth, and even fame. We
now go back to the question from the first paragraph, “Will this social issue exist
forever as people are engrossed not to change their life situations?”. The answer is,
yes, if people will continue to deprive himself of his power and initiative to change
his “fate”. If people will continue to think that someone is “better” because of what he
has and not considering other human wealth such as values, virtues, and ethics, he
will continue to suffer in the belief that humans are categorized on social levels which
can never be removed no matter what he does and will do.
If, realistically and practically, the inequality in terms of wealth, fame, and
fortune cannot be erased in society, what now can man do in order to attain the
idealistic concept of “equality”? This question cannot be answered if we stuck our
understanding of equality as possessing the same level of wealth, fame, and fortune.
Rather, let us focus on the fact that we all have the same biological body structure and
nature. We all experience and feel pains and negative emotions whether we are rich or
poor. We all encounter problems and frustrations whether you belong to lower,
middle, or upper class as what social conflict theory is saying. We all experience
sickness and deadly dieseases. Ultimately, we are all going to die whether you are a
genius or an “idiot”. At last in this sense, we are equal, because as what the Scriptures
are saying that this life is short and we are going back to the dust from where we came
from.
The idea now that inequality exists forever is misleading. First, the principle
behind this belief is the addiction to material things in this world. People tend to
connect the wealth, fame, and fortune, to “human social status” resulting to the
creation of “Social Conflict Theory”. Karl Marx’s theory is only focused on the
concrete and material things which make man better than others. The other elements
of humanity such as dignity, pride, values, and faith which are immaterial are not
taken seriously leading to a biased opinion that people are stratified on an established
classes or social statuses. Hence, this theory does not show the absolute truth but
rather a partial illustration of reality.
As a conclusion, inequality is not forever. Let us stop the belief that wealth, fame,
and fortune determine our nature and status of humanity. “Levels” of human in terms
of social status is plainly biased and illogical as it disregards the fact that we are born
equal: having the same biological body, having the same circles of emotions, and
having the same fate of facing death. Ultimately, even in the eyes of God, we are
equal as the scriptures say “May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the
people with equity and guide the nations of the earth” (Psalm 67:4) and clearly it is
also wirtten, “Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a
messenger greater than one who sent him” (John 13:16).