Inequality

When Disaster Strikes 1 Part 1: Disasters Don't Create Inequality-They Reveal It 2 Part 2: Why Some Cities Burn (And Others Don't) 3 Part 3: The Sacrifice Calculus 4 Part 4: Elite Disaster Strategies 5 Part 5: Famine and Political Power 6 Part 6: Earthquakes and Governance 7 Part 7: Pandemic Politics 8 Part 8: Why We Forget ← Series Home Key Takeaways Disasters reveal, not create: Earthquakes, floods, and famines expose existing inequalities—they don't generate them from nothing. Vulnerability is political: Who lives in flood zones, poorly built housing, or food-insecure regions reflects political choices, not random chance. Response reveals priorities: How societies allocate rescue resources, relief aid, and reconstruction investment shows whose lives matter most to those in power. The window closes quickly: Disasters create brief opportunities for reform that almost always close before meaningful change occurs. The Myth of the Natural Disaster On the morning of January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. Within forty seconds, the capital city of Port-au-Prince was transformed into rubble. The official death toll eventually reached over 300,000—though some estimates run higher. ...

The New Thermal Divide 1 The New Thermal Divide - Part 1: Anatomy of an Invisible Killer 2 The New Thermal Divide - Part 2: From Savanna to City-Humanity's Failed Adaptation 3 The New Thermal Divide - Part 3: Global Collapse: How Heat Scrambles Ecosystems and Food Supplies 4 The New Thermal Divide - Part 4: Accountability and the Future of a Superheated Planet ← Series Home The New Thermal Divide - Part 2: From Savanna to City—Humanity’s Failed Adaptation When extreme heat arrives, it operates as an invisible force that works upon the body in ways people cannot anticipate or control. Humanity has adapted to survive extreme conditions over millennia. Evolution equipped humans with sophisticated cooling mechanisms honed for life in our planetary Goldilocks Zone. This zone is the specific temperature range where life thrives. However, the modern world is changing rapidly, pushing global systems outside their functional parameters. As fossil fuel consumption unleashes heat, humanity finds its biological limits challenged. ...

Capitalism Unmasked 1 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 1: The Myth of the Free Market 2 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 2: The Shareholder Value Myth 3 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 3: The Trickle-Down Delusion 4 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 4: The Myth of the Lazy Poor 5 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 5: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Distrust 6 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 6: The Education Myth 7 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 7: The Myth of Natural Inequality 8 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 8: The Myth of Capital Flight 9 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 9: The Myth of the Rational Consumer 10 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 10: The Hidden Costs of 'Free' Markets 11 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 11: The Myth of the Self-Made Man 12 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 12: The Myth of Efficient Financial Markets 13 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 13: The Myth of Corporate Social Responsibility 14 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 14: The Myth of Growth 15 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 15: Development Institutions - Help or Hindrance? 16 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 16: The Myth of Immigration Harm 17 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 17: The Myth of Flexible Labor Markets 18 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 18: The Myth of Shareholder Primacy 19 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 19: The Myth of Technological Unemployment 20 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 20: The Privatization Illusion 21 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 21: The Myth of Patent Protection 22 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 22: The Myth of Government Debt Crisis 23 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 23: Finance - Economy's Brain or Parasite? ← Series Home What They Tell You Making the rich richer makes us all richer. When the rich get tax cuts, they invest more, creating jobs and growth. High taxes discourage work and investment. Inequality is the price of growth. The pie has to grow before it can be distributed. As President John F. Kennedy said, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” ...

Capitalism Unmasked 1 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 1: The Myth of the Free Market 2 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 2: The Shareholder Value Myth 3 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 3: The Trickle-Down Delusion 4 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 4: The Myth of the Lazy Poor 5 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 5: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Distrust 6 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 6: The Education Myth 7 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 7: The Myth of Natural Inequality 8 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 8: The Myth of Capital Flight 9 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 9: The Myth of the Rational Consumer 10 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 10: The Hidden Costs of 'Free' Markets 11 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 11: The Myth of the Self-Made Man 12 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 12: The Myth of Efficient Financial Markets 13 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 13: The Myth of Corporate Social Responsibility 14 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 14: The Myth of Growth 15 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 15: Development Institutions - Help or Hindrance? 16 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 16: The Myth of Immigration Harm 17 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 17: The Myth of Flexible Labor Markets 18 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 18: The Myth of Shareholder Primacy 19 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 19: The Myth of Technological Unemployment 20 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 20: The Privatization Illusion 21 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 21: The Myth of Patent Protection 22 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 22: The Myth of Government Debt Crisis 23 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 23: Finance - Economy's Brain or Parasite? ← Series Home What They Tell You Some people are naturally more talented, hardworking, or intelligent than others. Market economies reward these natural differences. Inequality reflects this reality. Trying to reduce inequality too much is both inefficient (removing incentives) and unfair (penalizing the talented). We should focus on equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. ...

The Secret Life of Ordinary Objects ← Series Home Introduction: From Innovation to Instinct Disasters Don’t Create Inequality—They Reveal It Natural disasters possess a chilling duality: they are, on one hand, indiscriminate forces of nature—unpredictable and overwhelming tests of human resilience. Yet, viewed through the lens of history, they are never “purely natural.” The seismic shockwave, the surging flood tide, or the creeping drought often selects its victims with unnerving precision. ...

The Secret Life of Ordinary Objects ← Series Home The Cycle of Revelation and Resistance: Why Societies Consistently Squander the Window for Reform The catastrophic failure of a city or an industry—be it through flood, fire, or earthquake—serves as a powerful, agonizing moment of collective revelation. It strips away the comforting illusions of equity and competence, exposing the deep-seated political and economic choices that predetermine who lives, who dies, and who ultimately benefits from the disaster’s aftermath. ...

Hunger is Man-Made: The Political Economy of Food Scarcity 1 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 1: How Inequality Fabricates Scarcity 2 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 2: Engineered Vulnerability: When Famine Becomes an Act of History 3 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 3: The Green Trap: How Modernization Concentrated Land and Poverty 4 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 4: The Global Supermarket: Corporate Control, Debt, and the Toxic Gift of Aid ← Series Home Key Takeaways "High Yielding Varieties" are actually "High Response Varieties": These seeds require expensive inputs (irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides) available only to wealthy farmers. Technology under inequality worsens conditions for the poor: Profitable innovations in unequal societies inevitably concentrate wealth and displace the vulnerable. Green Revolution excluded 85% of the world's cultivable land: HRVs covered only 15% of land by 1972-73, leaving traditional agriculture to poor farmers with limited resources. Mechanization displaced millions of agricultural workers: Landowners invested in machinery to increase profits and eliminate labor costs, creating permanent joblessness. Land concentration accelerated dramatically: Wealthy farmers monopolized government credit and services, forcing smallholders to sell land cheaply to survive. Post 3: Hunger is Man-Made - Part 3: The Green Trap: How Modernization Concentrated Land and Poverty For decades, the core question driving global food policy has been: “How can we produce more food?”. This focus on aggregate production, rather than equitable access, created an era of “agricultural modernization” which replaced the goal of true rural development. This process ignores the social reality of hunger—that the hungry are precisely those who control little to none of the food production resources. ...

Hunger is Man-Made: The Political Economy of Food Scarcity 1 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 1: How Inequality Fabricates Scarcity 2 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 2: Engineered Vulnerability: When Famine Becomes an Act of History 3 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 3: The Green Trap: How Modernization Concentrated Land and Poverty 4 Hunger is Man-Made - Part 4: The Global Supermarket: Corporate Control, Debt, and the Toxic Gift of Aid ← Series Home Key Takeaways 500+ million people face hunger despite global abundance: This crisis unfolds not from food scarcity, but from concentrated control over production resources. Scarcity is an illusion created by inequality: Sharp disparities in controlling food resources obstruct development and distort utilization. Whoever controls bread controls the mind: Control of essential resources determines who eats and who starves, enabling the exploitation of populations. Hunger stems from human systems, not nature: Malthus was wrong—the problem is dependency and underdevelopment, not limits to growth. Demystifying hunger is the first step to change: Understanding the structures that manufacture scarcity is essential for implementing genuine solutions. Post 1: Hunger is Man-Made - Part 1: How Inequality Fabricates Scarcity The book, The Hunger Industry, challenges readers to rethink deeply held assumptions about food and subsistence. Readers will confront ideas previously accepted as settled facts. This work compels mental alertness, anxiety, and a departure from intellectual routine. It deals with the most crucial human issue: securing daily bread. The authors emphasize that “without bread, man does not live” and whoever controls the bread controls the mind. ...