When thinking about the growing inequalities affecting our global society, my mind inevitably goes to cities. Cities have been the engines of development since industrialization; they have been a fertile ground for the “society of spectacle” and the world of commodities (Debord: 1967) and, most importantly, they represent the habitat and modus vivendi of more than half of the human population.
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The first thing that comes to mind when most people hear the word “inequalities” is the growth income gap between rich and poor in our society. In the last three decades, the economy has been growing very slowly. However, income growth happened mostly at the top of the income scale. The share of total income of the top 1% jumped from 8.9% in 1976 to 23.5% in 2007. Yet in the same period, the real hourly wage declined by over 7%.
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There is inequality entrenched in our society, even in places such as Berkeley where we would like to believe that we are more accepting and open than other parts of the world. My good friend Tom is currently fighting for the rights of the homeless in his opposition to the Sit/Lie bill.
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