The Great Divide

In light of the housing market crisis and subsequent economic crash of 2008, the deep structures of economic inequality and injustice embedded in our society have become glaringly obvious to much of the world. Recently, the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders has brought to light an intersectional space across communities and organizations to confront these issues in a way not seen in the United States for decades.

Today in the U.S., we’re witnessing a surge of social and political pressures around economic justice, from the Fight for $15 to battles for affordable healthcare, to challenging unjust college loan burdens, to struggles for affordable childcare and housing, among many others. Not to mention the intersection of economic issues with racial justice, gender justice, immigration, environmental justice, and disability rights.

One glaring fact on global wealth inequality says a lot: In 2017, they [Oxfam] calculated that inequality had become so bad that the richest 8 people had more wealth than the poorest half of the human population, or 3.6 billion. That’s the number of people it takes to fill single limousine (The Rules, An Update to the Rules’ 2013 Global Inequality Video June 2017).

How are we to make sense of such blatant injustices and all of these struggles to counter them? How do we understand the growing divide between the rich and poor, both domestically and globally? How do those of us with some level of access to economic privilege step forward – with wisdom, respect and the willingness to learn – into the lives of people who often don’t have access to life’s basic necessities?

One first step forward is having the willingness to learn about large economic structures and systems which are largely invisible, and then dedicating oneself to a lifelong education on how class differences and inequality manifest even among activists and social justice advocates.

This unit is designed to introduce you to thinking about economic injustice, primarily within the U.S. as it relates to wealth inequality, their structural causes, how they manifest, and how you might find your role in helping to dismantle them.