Reducing the massive wealth gap will lead to a more humane zeitgeist

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

— FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1882–1945), SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 1937

If every decision we make is determined by our nature and environment. Then having good initial conditions in life will lead to equal opportunities to reach our full potential not just individually but collectively as a species.

Giving people equal opportunities to have good environments and resources from the start will make our idealistic hopes for the future close to being reality.

Based on a Scientific study, stress shrinks our prefrontal cortex which is responsible for our decision making and it also increases the size of our amygdala which makes the brain more reactive to stress. (It is like a feedback loop)

This means that growing up with bad initial conditions in life (like living in a bad environment or barely surviving because of limited resources) determines the biological makeups of people’s brains which hinder their potentials in life.

People who barely survive because of limited resources have to do more stressful Jobs compared to more fortunate people. Which in turn, makes them more stressed which leads to higher amount of cortisol and larger amygdala. (Which leads to poor decision making in life)

This means that to be able to make good decisions and succeed in life, one needs the right conditions from the start. We can’t just magically become successful just by wanting it bad enough. Our decisions depend on our brain which is influenced by our environment. We need the right combinations of our nature and good environment(which will lead to better experiences ) to be able to reach our full potentials.

Being “self-made” is a lie. Nothing we do really comes from us. Everything we do is influenced by the things we consume. Having good influences, better foods, access to useful information are really big advantages.

The false promise of Individualism will make progress of our species slower by ignoring facts about our fundamental nature.

If we look at the data, more than 50 percent of the World’s wealth belong only to the top 1 percent of the population. That means majority of the world’s wealth is unfairly distributed .

If only the wealth gap could be lessened, we could then distribute it to help alleviate world hunger and give people equal opportunities for education and health care .

Having equal opportunities for basic necessities will prevent people from succumbing to crime just to get by. Having equal opportunities to pursue Higher Education will lead to less stressful Jobs which in turn will lead to better decision making because of less cortisol and larger pre frontal cortex. Having equal opportunities for better healthcare will lead to higher life expectancy and satisfaction in life. Which could also prevent future crimes because regular checkups could prevent anomalies in brain which lead to violent behaviors.

Having these opportunities would definitely help make our individual living conditions better and make our progress as a species faster .

If the wealth gap keeps getting larger, these opportunities will be harder to achieve which will lead Humanity to regression instead of progress.