The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Fazila Farouk -
There’s been a great deal of hand wringing in South Africa in the aftermath of the Marikana massacre. With the explosion of the underbelly of our society onto the international arena, South Africans have been left with little choice but to confront the demons of nearly 20 years of a failed democracy.
From the fact that no woman feels safe walking alone on South African streets, to the fact that millions of people continue to live without the most basic of dignities, ours is a...
People are talking a lot about inequality these days. It continues to grow within and between countries. The world's total wealth has been estimated at US$223 trillion. The richest one percent has accumulated 43% of this wealth. Simultaneously, there is a growing gap between rich and poor countries. Two hundred years ago rich countries were only three times richer than poor countries. Today they are about 80 times richer. Much of this can be attributed to the unfair rules of the global...
Within cities and countries around the world the gap between the rich and the poor is widening in a global trend that some economists have warned will have detrimental effects on society. In the US which has one of the highest levels of inequality in the West, the richest 10% of Americans receive about half of the nation's income.
In a time when economic growth in many countries is slowing and governments are advocating fiscal austerity, is the question of inequality being factored into...
Worldwide the strategy for becoming more competitive in the global economy is to lower wages for an export economy. The problem that has arisen is that almost every country has done the same thing. Heiner Flassbeck is Director of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He has just released UNCTAD's 2012 annual report. It is essentially a report about inequality. It's not just that inequality is unfair --...
This video, an excerpt from a TED Talk given by Dr. Frans B.M. de Waal, is about the study of fairness in animals. The clip features a study conducted on Capuchin monkeys in which they were given "unequal pay" for the same task. Watch the clip to see the reaction of the monkey that realizes it is not being treated fairly.
Editor's Note: To watch the complete version of this Ted Talk, which also makes for great viewing, please click here.
Lauren Kelley -
TED curator Chris Anderson seemed most concerned that "business managers and entrepreneurs would feel insulted" by some remarks about income inequality.
We've long heard complaints that TED is elitist. The annual conference in California costs $7,500 to attend and is nearly impossible to get into, even for those who can afford the price tag; it is widely considered to be "unofficially invite-only."
Still, you'd be hard pressed to find...
