What are the Causes of Inequality?

2446 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Introduction to inequality essay

I- Introduction
In the treatise named “Leviathan” published in 1651, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) proposed an early variant of equality among men that inequality did not exist in natural condition, meaning everyone is born equal; however, inequality's existence was the result of civil laws (Hobbes & Gaskin, 1998). In this sense, inequality is generally referred to social inequality which is characterized by the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society; plus, this negative social phenomenon contains structured and recurrent patterns of unequal distributions of goods, wealth, opportunities, rewards, and punishments (Crossman, 2012).
Throughout the nation’s 2000-year history, Cambodia, a developing Southeast Asian country located on the Indochina Peninsula, has experienced a number of glories and tragedies; as a matter of fact, it was until 1993 that the democratic election, supported by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), were conducted to restore peace in Cambodia under a coalition government (CIA World Factbook, 2013). In order to transform from the negative peace which is just the absent of direct violence to the positive peace meaning the absent of cultural and structural violence, Cambodia, the younger member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has been trying as hard as possible to address the problem of inequality with the obvious hope that if inequality is not natural, according to Hobbes, but rather constructed, there are probably chances to level down its impacts or even demolish its existence.
Nevertheless, as income inequality as well as gender inequality are the two outstanding types of inequality equippe...

... middle of paper ...

...Institute of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
Pou, S. (June 26, 2013). Cambodia is ingrained with corruption, political patronage. The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved December 20, 2013 from http://www.cambodiadaily.com/opinion/cambodia-is-ingrained-with-corruption- political-patronage-32120/
Prak, K, B, & Schuette, S. (2007). Gender and Women in politics in Cambodia. Henrich Boll Foundation: Cambodia.
Ros, S. & Chor, C. (2012). Joint press release: Results of the Commune/Sangkat Council Elections 2012: further efforts required to achieve quantitative and qualitative female representation in politics in Cambodia.
Thucydides, Dent, J. M., & Dutton, E. P. (1910). The Peloponnesian War. London & New York.
Transparency International (2013). Corruption perceptions index 2013. Transparency International. Retrieved December 20, 2013 from http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results

Show More
Related

  • The Mytilene Debate and Athenian Debate

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    The book written by Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, contains two controversial debates between distinguished speakers of Athens. The two corresponding sides produce convincing arguments which can be taken as if produced as an honest opinion or out of self-interest. The two debates must be analyzed separately in order to conclude which one and which side was speaking out of honest opinion or self-interest, as well as which speakers are similar to each other in their approach to the situation.

    Read More

  • James Dashner's Maze Runner

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Peloponnesian War (ancient Greek History)."Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2014

    Read More

  • The Causes and Effects of the Peloponnesian War

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    The causes of the Peloponnesian War proved to be too great between the tension-filled stubborn Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. As Thucydides says in Karl Walling’s article, “Never had so many human beings been exiled, or so much human blood been shed” (4). The three phases of the war, which again, are the Archidamian war, the Sicilian Expedition and the Decelean war, show the events that followed the causes of the war, while also showing the forthcoming detrimental effects that eventually consumed both Athens and eventually Sparta effectively reshaping Greece.

    Read More

  • Sociological Approaches To Social Inequality

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Present at least two different sociological approaches to social inequality and discuss these approaches with reference to a concrete problem area of contemporary relevance”

    Read More

  • Peloponnesian War Essay

    2197 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Peloponnesian War is the conflict between the pelopoponesians league led by Sparta and the Delian league, led by Athens. Much of our knowledge on the causes and events of the Peloponnesian War, depends on the Athenian Thucydides 460-400 BC, writer of the History of the Peloponessian War. He servd as an Athenian commander in Northern Greece during the early years of the war until the assembly exiled him as he lost an outpost to the enemy. During this exile, he was able to interview witnesses on both sides of the conflicted. Unlike Heredotus he concentrated on contemporary history and presented his account of the war in an annalistic framework that only occasionally diverts from chronological order. In his account, he discuses the precursors to the war, including the 30 years truce and revolutions, such as the stasis in Corcyra. When looking at wars, the primary focus is normally the fighting itself, such as what we see for World War II. However, it is important to look at the anatomy of war, meaning what effect the war has on the people who are experiencing it first hand, and the consquences that the conflict has on the rest of the world. Therefore in this essay I shall discuss, drawing directly from Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, how the civilians reacted to the war, their involvement and socio economic factors. Furthermore, the first section of my essay shall focus on the direct effect of war on the people, regarding the plague, and violence and hopelessness that was experienced. Then I shall go on to discuss more general effects of the war and how it affected the Greek world, discussing the social and economic losses that occurred such as the cost of the war in attica, the coup d’etat that occurred in gove...

    Read More

  • Force, Morality and Rights in Thomas Hobbes and John Locke's Social Contract Theories

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    In his famous writing, “The Leviathan”, Thomas Hobbes explains that the natural condition of mankind is when a society lives together without the rule of a common authority or power; this creates a “dog-eat-dog” world in which the citizens live in a perpetual state of utter chaos and fear. The fears experienced by the citizens are not only of the unequal distribution of the power of others, but also fear of the loss of their own power. In Hobbes’ state of nature there is complete liberty for society in the idea that each member may do whatever he or she pleases without having to worry about infringing upon the rights of the rest of society; in other words, one is allowed to do whatever necessary to pursue their own happiness. Ho...

    Read More

  • Why Thucydides Means

    436 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the book, “History of the Peloponnesian War”, Thucydides cleverly applies the newly coined Greek word, δεμαγωγός. In this essay, I will attempt to give a literal account of how the word was constructed, what this newly coined term means, and how the Athenians could have reacted to such a term.

    Read More

  • What's Equality?

    1939 Words  | 4 Pages

    The history of equality can be traced back many years. Aristotle and Plato, Greek philosophers, had many views on the balance between the free-thinking worth of individuals versus the needs of society to be led by the best and smartest. For Marxists, the backbone of Marxism is equality the root of all inequality is capitalism, providing differences of wealth, wages, living conditions education and housing. A society that i...

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Peloponnesian War

    1502 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this essay, I am going to anaylise the Peloponnesian War. I will look at what appears to have caused the war, how it developed, and what the outcome of it was. As Thucydides is virtually the only surviving primary source of this event, I will also discuss the man and his method.

    Read More

  • The Cambodian Genocide

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cambodian Genocide has the historical context of the Vietnam War and the country’s own civil war. During the Vietnam War, leading up to the conflicts that would contribute to the genocide, Cambodia was used as a U.S. battleground for the Vietnam War. Cambodia would become a battle ground for American troops fighting in Vietnam for four years; the war would kill up to 750,00 Cambodians through U.S. efforts to destroy suspected North Vietnamese supply lines. This devastation would take its toll on the Cambodian peoples’ morale and would later help to contribute that conflicts that caused the Cambodian genocide. In the 1970’s the Khmer rouge guerilla movement would form. The leader of the Khmer rouge, Pol Pot was educated in France and believed in Maoist Communism. These communist ideas would become important foundations for the ideas of the genocide, and which groups would be persecuted. The genocide it’s self, would be based on Pol Pot’s ideas to bring Cambodia back to an agrarian society, starting at the year zero. His main goal was to achieve this, romanticized idea of old Cambodia, based on the ancient Cambodian ruins, with all citizens having agrarian farming lives, and being equal to each other. Due to him wanting society to be equal, and agrarian based, the victims would be those that were educated, intellectuals, professionals, and minority ethnic g...

    Read More

  • Cambodian Genocide: The Khmer Rouge

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the beginning of the genocide, after the war, the Khmer Rouge were able to manipulate the public with their clever thinking and brutal ways. It helped that the Cambodians wanted peace at any cost, but the cost that needed to be payed, was the cost of their freedom. “The Khmer Rouge were very clever and brutal. Their tactics were effective because most of us refused to believe their malicious intentions. Their goal was to liberate us. They risked their own lives and gave up their families for ‘justice' and ‘equality.’ ” Said Teeda Butt Mam. They fought the war to make the Cambodians believe in them, then flipped the table and attacked them, tearing them out of their homes. According to Teeda Butt Mam, they had forced apart families and neighbors, trying to stop alliances from happening. They were playing a game of chess with Cambodia and already had them in

    Read More

  • Inequality In Education Essay

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Tony Judt once wrote, “we need to start talking about inequality again; we need to start talking about the inequalities and unfairnesses and the injustices of an excessively divided society, divided by wealth, by opportunity, by outcome, by assets and so forth.” This generation cannot throw a bandage over this problem that is happening worldwide. It is a serious problem that is gradually getting worse, rather than better.

    Read More

  • Peloponnesian War Essay

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    War has been around for the past couple of centuries now. A question that comes out of many people’s mouths’ is, “Is war the answer?” Centuries ago people may have agreed, however for nowadays maybe not so much. In the BC time era, men were trained to fight with their bodies as their weapons and to take no mercy when it comes to the enemy. If one were to dishonor their kind or betray them, the consequences would be a painful death. The following information portrayed in this essay is to discuss the causes of the Peloponnesian War, who won the war and why they conquered a nice victory.

    Read More

  • Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Peloponnesian War

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.) was a conflict between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta that resulted in the end of the Golden Age of Athens. The events of the war were catalogued by the ancient historian Thucydides in The History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides’ writings showed the ancient Greek belief that there is a parallel between the city-state and the character of its citizens; in order for the city-state to be successful, its citizens must be virtuous. Thucydides did not believe that the true cause of the Peloponnesian War were the immediate policies of the Athenian Empire against the city-states in the Peloponnesian League but rather the fundamental differences in the character of the two city-states

    Read More

  • Effects Of Social Inequality

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social inequality can be easily defined as, “an unequal distribution of resources” (Symbaluk & Bereska, 2013, p. 93). Although it is easy to define, being aware of it in everyday life is a more difficult task. Social inequality can take many forms based on race, ethnicity, and gender and can be seen everywhere in society from school, the workplace, to government. It can be difficult to notice social inequality because stereotypes are ingrained into society and often affect the subconscious. Class stratification also enables people to scapegoat minorities by saying they have no merit to society rather than society has put up barriers to stop them from achieving merit. One easily observable effect of social inequality is the income gap between

    Read More

More about What are the Causes of Inequality?

Open Document