Opinion Inequality, polarising politics and neoliberal policies: Lessons for India from America’s decline

There is now a rich vein of scholarship from diverse disciplines which has documented the impact of rising inequality on the fabric of society and, ultimately, the well-being of its people. All these inquiries conclude that inequality deeply fractures the essential bonds that tie people who share the same land, hardening the boundaries that divide one group from another, and amplifying deeply entrenched prejudices about those who do not share one’s own identity. In short, inequality leads to a dystopia in which each individual cares only for themselves and those they identify with — to hell with everyone else. A hellscape where the majority of the population struggles to survive with insecure incomes and opportunities while a minority enjoy unimaginable wealth and power.

Such a dystopia presents a fertile soil to plant the seeds of hate, against those whose ideologies differ from yours or, at the crudest level, those who look, speak or dress differently from yourself. As one group feels less valued and less well-off compared to the other and the feelings of shared identity and destinies erode, the narrative of the other group stealing your country grips your imagination. Add Trump’s incendiary rhetoric to this tinder and you have the perfect firestorm.

It is worth pondering whether any of these observations have a bearing on India. Obviously, there are enormous differences between these two countries. Curiously, though, there are some parallels too, which should make us pause and think about the crisis in the US. After all, India also has a long history of violence based on identity and othering, not least in relation to the caste system and patriarchy, and is herself no stranger to political violence. The past four decades have witnessed a full-throated embrace of neoliberal economic policies to the point that India has emerged as one of the most unequal countries in the world, the grotesqueness of which was vividly on display with the opulent year-long festivities marking a wedding in the country’s richest family juxtaposed with government statistics revealing that India is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world.

Add to this potent brew the political rhetoric championing an exclusionary view of the identity of the people of India, which seamlessly blends with the dehumanisation of and acts of violence against minorities while the law enforcement agencies turn a blind eye or even play a supportive role, and you have all the ingredients for a dystopic society. While we can be thankful that Indian society is not awash with guns, this is hardly a consolation for those lynched by knives or bare hands or who have been rendered homeless by government bulldozers. What is most chilling about these incidents is the message they send out to those who are already enraged by their hopelessness, offering a defenceless othered group on whom to vent their fury, in the knowledge that they can do so without fear of retribution.

Trump blamed gun violence on mental health and social disorder. He is, characteristically, both wrong and right. It is guns which kill, not persons with mental health problems. But he is right to point out that social disorder kills too; the mounting “deaths of despair”, fuelled by drugs, alcohol and suicide, are testimony to the deadly effects of the dystopia on the forgotten white working class of the country. Despair not only fuels hopelessness but also rage, perhaps the most damaging of all emotional experiences, which has been mutating across the country in tandem with ideological polarisation. But it is inequality which is the critical bedrock for polarisation to flourish, for it is hard to divide and inflame people when there is solidarity built around a shared destiny and identity. It is not coincidental that the happiest nations of the world are also the most equal; India ranks alongside the unhappiest countries of all while the US similarly ranks lowest among its peers; both countries also endure the highest suicide rates in the world.

There are clear prescriptions on how to build more equal societies through government commitments to a decent minimum wage, progressive taxation and public health care and education. Strong democratic institutions, especially the courts and police who hold anyone who breaks the law accountable, no matter how powerful they might be, are key to building trust and solidarity. But words matter too, especially in the world of social media where they can get amplified at lightning speed. It is time, as both US presidential candidates have acknowledged, to dial down the hateful language. And this must also be a signal to India’s politicians, and other public leaders, to replace words of hate with those of solidarity and compassion, to heal our fractured societies.

The writer is the Paul Farmer Professor of Global Health at Harvard Medical School