The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die
Keith Payne
Top 10 Best Quotes
“I believe we have to view inequality as a public health problem.”
“...high inequality is associated with higher rates of crime, greater risk of stress-related illness, and greater political polarization.”
“high inequality is associated with higher rates of crime, greater risk of stress-related illness, and greater political polarization. These problems degrade the quality of life for everyone, including the affluent. This may be why people are happier in more equal places even after adjusting for their individual incomes.”
“We are especially likely to manufacture meaningful patterns when we feel powerless.”
“To believe in a conspiracy, you trade a bit of your belief that the world is good, fair, and just in exchange for the conviction that at least someone—anyone—has everything under control.”
“The subjects who thought their earnings were inferior wanted to increase redistribution, as before. But they wanted everyone’s vote to count equally, regardless of whether the other player agreed or disagreed with them. The subjects who thought they were superior wanted to reduce redistribution, and they also voted to reject the votes of those who disagreed with them. The more they saw the other player as incompetent and irrational, the less they wanted his vote to count. This research was the first to show that feeling superior in status magnifies our feeling that we see reality as it is while our opponents are deluded. It supports the idea that as the top and the bottom of the social ladder drift further apart, our politics will become more divisive. That is exactly what has happened over the past several decades.”
“Inequality makes people feel poor and act poor, even when they're not.”
“In study after study, subjects who see the world as a threatening and dangerous place tend to be more politically conservative. Those who see the world as safe, and who are motivated by exploring and trying new experiences, tend to support more liberal views.”
“In order to maintain the certitude that the world was fair, subjects manufactured flaws in the woman’s character.”
“In every country tested, respondents dramatically underestimated the degree of actual pay inequity. In the United States, for example, people estimated that CEOs earned about 30 times the average worker. In reality, the researchers point out, the average CEO earned $12.3 million in 2012. That is about 350 times the average worker’s income of $35,000.”
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Book Keywords:
disparity, income, polarization, psychology, wealth, inequality, poverty
