Social Equality and Democracy
Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve System, has been touring America promoting his biography. One little publicized argument in his book is that growing wealth inequality is a threat to democracy. Greenspan argues that the growing gap between rich and poor in the U.S. could bring civil disorder. His solution is to improve education so that people get higher paying jobs, thus eliminating the need for social welfare programs.
Greenspan raises an interesting point: is a degree of social equality necessary for a functioning democracy? It is worth remembering that de Tocqueville thought that social equality in 18th-century North America was the reason democracy developed here. If citizens think it is necessary to have social equality for democracy to work, how much responsibility lies with the government to equalize the wealth?
