The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better was a groundbreaking book in 2009 which "shows that for each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being, outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries."
Credit
The UK has among the highest levels of economic inequality in the world. 18% of the people in the UK population are in poverty. That includes 4.5 million children who are being raised in poverty. Inequality is at the heart of social and environmental crises, including plastic pollution, as outlined in this article, ‘The Rich, Poor and the Earth‘, by Oxford University professor Danny Dorling.
Levels of inequality continue to spiral out of control in the wake of Covid-19. Oxfam state in their Inequality Kills report that, "The world’s richest 10 men have seen their fortunes double, while the incomes of 99% of humanity are worse off" and that, "A new billionaire has been created every 26 hours since the pandemic began".
Danny Dorling
Oxford University Professor of Human Geography.
Oxfam's report goes on to say that, "20 of the richest billionaires are estimated, on average, to be emitting as much as 8000 times more carbon than the billion poorest people" So to deal with social and environmental crises, including plastic pollution, we must further equality. Fundamental systemic change is required to deal with the corrupt economic and political systems that have enabled such gross inequality.