from Boston.com:
IDEAS: So the people at the top would benefit from change as well?
WILKINSON: The quality of social relations seems to deteriorate in more unequal societies. People trust each other much less....In Sweden, people don’t bother to check your tickets on the train or bus. And it just feels so much nicer.
IDEAS: You also write about consumerism, the obsession with material goods.
PICKETT: We want bigger houses and more cars, not because we need them, but because we use them to express our status. Material goods are how we show the world we’re keeping up, and in a more hierarchical society that’s more important. Status competition becomes more intense, and that increases our need to consume....We came across a website in England called “Ferraris for all,” making the point that if everybody had a Ferrari, there would be no status in owning one.
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