Money, money, money...
The gulf between rich and poor is bigger than ever, argues Emma Hills, and that harms us all
For centuries, people have debated with conflicting views as to whether or not money really can buy happiness. Arguably, somebody who is living in poverty still has the ability to be happy but surely, they would be happier if they could afford a comfortable lifestyle, would they not?
The richest person in the world is currently Jeff Bezos. Even though he is surrounded by wealth – a percentage of which he donates to charity - and engages in an incredibly luxurious lifestyle, it’s highly unlikely that he’s actually the happiest man in the world.
The situation of one person can’t be generalised to be applicable or representative of a larger group of people. Regardless of the happiness levels of someone in correlation to their wealth, the main focus should be on how money is a hugely contributing factor to the inequality that is ever present in our society.
At the moment, a Premier League footballer makes an average of £3 million per year. There are only pallid justifications as to why football players should be earning this much money annually - in comparison to doctors, for example. The average salary of a doctor is £60,000 a year. Despite this still being quite a lot of money in comparison to other sectors of work, when contrasted with the annual salary of a football player it seems ludicrous for the gap between the two to fall into the category of millions.
Obviously, football requires a certain level of skill and constant training, and I most certainly couldn’t make a career out of it myself. However, doctors have people’s lives in their hands - which undoubtedly means that they hold the weight of a lot more responsibility than someone whose job it is to run on a pitch and kick a ball. As a society, we are clearly failing if we are allowing the pay between two professions to be so drastically unequal when one of those professions is so much more important in saving human life, and arguably requires much more skill than the other. As much as we enjoy watching football, we cannot deny that without doctors – or anybody working in the health sector - the systems in place would crumble.
As a growing population in the 21st century, we preach equality in all aspects of life - however, we still face many issues. For example, gender inequality, class inequality, homophobia, transphobia, racism, religious discrimination, ableism. It’s incredibly difficult to comprehend the existence of any form of inequality or discrimination, but significantly more so to understand the sheer magnitude of the gap between the richest and the poorest. Why do we allow some people to have an abundance of materialistic wealth, even things as nonsensical as Jeff Bezos’ own rocket ship company when there are other people who can’t afford the basic necessities such as food, water, or facilities?
Kylie Jenner has around 15 different cars, worth over $6 million in total, and allegedly chooses whichever one she feels inclined to on the day, or she allows her 6-year-old daughter Stormi to pick. On the other hand, people such as Elsie, who came to fame after an interview with Boris Johnson in 2022, have been forced to make use of free bus travel in order to keep warm and only eat one meal a day. How, as humanity, have we allowed the two ends of the spectrum to be so drastically different?
Even though money can be used in positive ways, it also creates so much inequality amongst people in society. Whilst some people are buying the new iPhone just because they can do so at their leisure without a drastic impact on their financial state, others are having to cut down on meals in order to afford to live which further increases the inequality that is already so prominent in our society.
If we are to live together in harmony, we have to make sure that we live fairly.
Emma HIlls, Year 12
For centuries, people have debated with conflicting views as to whether or not money really can buy happiness. Arguably, somebody who is living in poverty still has the ability to be happy but surely, they would be happier if they could afford a comfortable lifestyle, would they not?
The richest person in the world is currently Jeff Bezos. Even though he is surrounded by wealth – a percentage of which he donates to charity - and engages in an incredibly luxurious lifestyle, it’s highly unlikely that he’s actually the happiest man in the world.
The situation of one person can’t be generalised to be applicable or representative of a larger group of people. Regardless of the happiness levels of someone in correlation to their wealth, the main focus should be on how money is a hugely contributing factor to the inequality that is ever present in our society.
At the moment, a Premier League footballer makes an average of £3 million per year. There are only pallid justifications as to why football players should be earning this much money annually - in comparison to doctors, for example. The average salary of a doctor is £60,000 a year. Despite this still being quite a lot of money in comparison to other sectors of work, when contrasted with the annual salary of a football player it seems ludicrous for the gap between the two to fall into the category of millions.
Obviously, football requires a certain level of skill and constant training, and I most certainly couldn’t make a career out of it myself. However, doctors have people’s lives in their hands - which undoubtedly means that they hold the weight of a lot more responsibility than someone whose job it is to run on a pitch and kick a ball. As a society, we are clearly failing if we are allowing the pay between two professions to be so drastically unequal when one of those professions is so much more important in saving human life, and arguably requires much more skill than the other. As much as we enjoy watching football, we cannot deny that without doctors – or anybody working in the health sector - the systems in place would crumble.
As a growing population in the 21st century, we preach equality in all aspects of life - however, we still face many issues. For example, gender inequality, class inequality, homophobia, transphobia, racism, religious discrimination, ableism. It’s incredibly difficult to comprehend the existence of any form of inequality or discrimination, but significantly more so to understand the sheer magnitude of the gap between the richest and the poorest. Why do we allow some people to have an abundance of materialistic wealth, even things as nonsensical as Jeff Bezos’ own rocket ship company when there are other people who can’t afford the basic necessities such as food, water, or facilities?
Kylie Jenner has around 15 different cars, worth over $6 million in total, and allegedly chooses whichever one she feels inclined to on the day, or she allows her 6-year-old daughter Stormi to pick. On the other hand, people such as Elsie, who came to fame after an interview with Boris Johnson in 2022, have been forced to make use of free bus travel in order to keep warm and only eat one meal a day. How, as humanity, have we allowed the two ends of the spectrum to be so drastically different?
Even though money can be used in positive ways, it also creates so much inequality amongst people in society. Whilst some people are buying the new iPhone just because they can do so at their leisure without a drastic impact on their financial state, others are having to cut down on meals in order to afford to live which further increases the inequality that is already so prominent in our society.
If we are to live together in harmony, we have to make sure that we live fairly.
Emma HIlls, Year 12