Log #4

When we try to find a way out of income inequality, we would most likely think of education and taxation. They indeed could help, but I have find that the mechanics behind their functioning as a way out of inequality is far more complicated than we normally imagine.

First, education. Education have long been preached, by parents, teachers, politicians, and the rich alike, to be the way out. And indeed it was. My grandfather, who endured the horrors of civil war, was left with nothing until he received education and secured himself a new life in Taiwan. My grandmother, who was born in a wealthy trading family in Shanghai have also been through hard time, deprived of all her influence and wealth. Yet, she could pick up the pieces in Taiwan. Stories like theirs can be still be heard, as if it was not long ago we still rode on carriages.

From the articles I read, I find that education might no longer be the way counter inequality and provide equity to all. The truth is, it has been quite obvious. Education has been distorted, commercialized. The case is most self-evident in Taiwan. The new system of high school entrance evaluation provides extra credits for those with special talents, talents that people pay to acquire. Even without such a distorted mechanism, the rich still receives better education and more resources. Other researches show that the barrier exists not only in finance, but also in family. Low-income family tends to ignore education, forming a bad cycle. It is time to ask ourselves: how has it come to this? Do our education still function as a means to level inequality?

In the old days, only nobility receives education, and it took bloodshed and suffering to end this inequality. Yet it seems we are now rebuilding that society.

Second, taxing policy. Some argue that relying on government policies is equal to encouraging “rent seeking” behaviors and political lobbying. They argue that it will only stifle the economy. I am no economist, and the amount of information I can process from economy-based articles are severely limited by my poor economics. Yet I can understand that a disadvantageous taxing policy will only discourage business owner to invest. Therefore, if this is to work in any way, I believe it will have to be a global effort as I have mentioned in the previous log.