I think the direction of causality does bring into question what the expectations are for an egalitarian society is.
Is a society just if people with drug abuse, mental illness, and general dysfunction have equality of outcomes?
Of course, this simplistic debate belies the fact that all of these attributes have multifactorial causes, and most are in cyclical feedback with each other.
Dysfunction begets poverty begets dysfunction. No single intervention is socially curative outside of storybook logic.
Getting on my podium, I think that these factors are worse in developed societies than poor one (which often have greater inequality) for numerous reasons:
First would be the visibility of inequality. Next would be culture of material consumption. Next would be breakdown of social community (and the efficacy of social norms).
I think this explains why this types of behaviors are seen more in places like the US, which has a longstanding culture of materialism and individualism. I think it also explains why the behavior is more pronounced for outgroups and fractured broken communities.
This further explains why some groups within the US with strong social community have relatively low crime rates despite very poor economic conditions
Is a society just if people with drug abuse, mental illness, and general dysfunction have equality of outcomes?
Of course, this simplistic debate belies the fact that all of these attributes have multifactorial causes, and most are in cyclical feedback with each other.
Dysfunction begets poverty begets dysfunction. No single intervention is socially curative outside of storybook logic.
Getting on my podium, I think that these factors are worse in developed societies than poor one (which often have greater inequality) for numerous reasons:
First would be the visibility of inequality. Next would be culture of material consumption. Next would be breakdown of social community (and the efficacy of social norms).
I think this explains why this types of behaviors are seen more in places like the US, which has a longstanding culture of materialism and individualism. I think it also explains why the behavior is more pronounced for outgroups and fractured broken communities.
This further explains why some groups within the US with strong social community have relatively low crime rates despite very poor economic conditions