A must listen for a hopeful future

Understanding how an equitable society is better for all needs focus, and an open mind and heart. It is paramount to review the graphs on the website accompanying this work to visualize the uniformity of the trends expressed. The uplifting last chapter provides hope and understanding of the legacy work ahead.

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Fascinating subject matter, difficult narration

This book is one of the most significant works in the field of social inequality, and I would strongly recommend it for anybody who asks themselves "what's wrong with our world today?" The information herein has been fundamental to my work in the field of social change.

It is a bit of a thick topic, and the contribution of a droning narrator makes it unnecessarily difficult to absorb. While Chafer's narration wasn't bad, I would call it inappropriate. I get an image of him as a tired British college professor trying to explain something complicated to those who he doesn't expect will understand the subject matter. Starting around chapter 14, it became a chore to continue listening.

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4 people found this helpful

A very important subject

I recommend this book to anyone who would like the world to be a better place and would like ideas about how to make it so.

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The Next Evolution of Democratic Capitalism

A must read for capitalists, like me, who want to understand how we can leverage the private markets to make our society more equal

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An Important Book

What made the experience of listening to The Spirit Level the most enjoyable?

The Spirit Level is one of those rare examples of social science being science. There are centuries of theoretical discussions about how best to allocate wealth, but this book actually provides data. The authors do their best to keep it entertaining, but it is occasionally demanding on the reader. Downloading the pdf file is a must to understanding the book. I hope the Spirit Level is read by every policy maker in the world.

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5 people found this helpful

Breathtakingly insightful and compelling work

I feel like this book singlehandedly rewired my perception of key aspects of modern civilization. In addition to handing me a powerful new lens through which to examine the roots of social problems, I think The Spirit Level can practically serve as a type of self-help manual for seeing how not to fall into the miserable traps inequality sets for us as individuals. This book was seriously brilliant. Should be considered a must-read - ack - I mean listen - for anybody who's curious about how human societies work.

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This book explains America's bad mood

I was on a quest to find someone to explain today’s America to me…and, finally, "The Spirit Level" did. In graph after graph, the book lay out the stats--how growing income inequality in a society sends it down the drain. It blew my mind.

For me, this book is a turning point. Now, I know the bottom line. Now, I can turn my attention to what to do about it. This is a hugely important book--I strongly recommend it. Easy reading, graphs are as clear as day. They're available as a pdf from the publisher, Tantor. Mind blowing what's been happening to our country!

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1 person found this helpful

Optimal life for everyone—including the wealthy

This book has stood the test of time, and after its original publication in 2009 it remains an active project with a current updated website at equalitytrust.org.uk. In presenting rigorous research, the authors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett demonstrate across several domains that quality of life is secured more through social and economic equality than any accumulation of wealth beyond a simple comfortable existence. A key finding in this research is that wealthy people fare better as well as others in more equal societies, and that societal maladies affect all strata when inequality is artificially high—as it is in several developed countries, most notably in the US.

The details presented in this research are compelling. Wilkinson and Picket document through both statistical and anecdotal evidence how it is inequality—as distinguished from just comfortable life above subsistence—that affects the rates of murders, suicides, teen pregnancy, and prison population levels in any society worldwide. Inequality is also the main factor in the level of distrust, violence, illiteracy, and life expectancy across otherwise divergent societies—the authors point out that those with extreme wealth are hardly exempt from these effects.

The solutions that Wilkinson and Picket suggest appear to center on a common theme: the establishment of cooperative relationships with common aims for improved quality of life. The concept of an Ownership Society touted by George W. Bush comes to mind—except this would be effected in actuality instead of just as a fig leaf for neoliberal chicanery. The authors provide as examples of successful implementation the use of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), most notably those in which employees have a meaningful say in company operations—the empowerment of employees and the communities they live in has proven to be a sure way to ensure that people are well off to begin with, greatly reducing the need for redistribution.

To achieve the needed level of equality, it is necessary to counter the strong winds of right wing cult messaging emanating from a billionaire funded ecosystem of think tanks, educational institutions, lobbying entities, and broadcast and social media outlets, which pushes failed free market ideology and distorts the sense of reality for the millions of people caught in its web of lies. Although reversing the effects of this harmful disinformation is a tall order, we can achieve it through promoting powerful corrective information in both the cognitive and emotional realms of the public. That will establish and maintain popular will for rebuilding what’s been torn down, and open the way to take action on the recommendations both in this book and at equalitytrust.org.uk. This is the way we can fight for the changes needed to make life optimal for everyone—including the wealthy.

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excellent evidence

my husband asked me why income equality is desirable. this book provides the public health evidence that not just the poor but even the better off benefit from greater income equality. excellent read.

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1 person found this helpful

Equality

Spirited and emphatic case for basing decisions on equality toward a shared and cooperative economy because it would be healthy and sustain the planet

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