I apologize for the gloomy picture and quote but I feel like humanity is on the verge of something so much deeper than what it seems, as if we are trying to find and take back what was taken from us a very long time ago. For the past few years, I have been trying to understand why and how humanity in society, communities, nationally, locally, and internationally, have evolved across so many centuries and there is still trouble that surrounds issues of privilege, power, and difference that relates to gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability status, and social class. I have been experiencing the internal pain and turmoil knowing that there are victims in this world where such things exist. Finding myself in so much agony after hearing and seeing what awful things occur on a daily basis, I tried to find a deeper meaning to help myself understand WHY these things are happening, such as if there is a God, why would God allow it. I read somewhere that planet earth is hell due to all of the horrible things that happen. Supposedly there used to be many books that were filled with the wisdom, knowledge, and keys to what it means to be human, but they were burned by dictators who ruled from the church, or dominant civilizations that intended to take control of whatever they could for their selfish profits that I think created inequalities to this day. I am so puzzled that after all that we know, all the education, information, resources, and knowledge, I imagine that we could have a complete understanding of the trouble that we are in and we would know exactly what to do about it. People who can make a positive difference towards equitable change are a part of the problem if we do not try to become a part of the solution and again, I thought that as a whole, the world would understand how each individual is connected so that a positive difference could be made. It is bothersome to be unable to understand what is preventing the solution from taking place. Either people are not fighting enough on the behalf of the oppressed, those who are oppressed are not standing up for their rights whether they don’t know how or are just unable to, and or those in power are abusing their privilege and just don’t care how their selfish actions deteriorate the lives of those who are oppressed, or they really don’t have a clue to what is going on. I long to figure out how to fix this problem. How do we make a difference that will impact not just little parts of society at a time, but society as a whole? I am afraid that it doesn’t work that way, it doesn’t happen overnight, but how long will it take until things get right?

It also looks like inequality is a stock, stock defined as, “the goods or merchandise kept on the premises of a business or warehouse and available for sale or distribution.” There are aspects in social structures of society that prolong the inequalities that exist, simply because there are people and businesses that profit from their actions that promote inequality by setting forth in their businesses the levels of income distribution and class, that discriminate against gender, and race/ethnicity which are also influenced by exploitation, inheritance, achievement, or status attainment, depending on where and who you are. Looking at history, it seems to be absolutely possible to point out the processes that produce, increase, or reduce inequalities, and it seems as if all of the work in the world is just not being done efficiently, and equally. Out of all of the public and political debate, scholarly exchange, and academic teaching, there are still forces in all parts of society that drive inequality to its worse. I am obsessed with finding the culprit of all of this, and how to stop it, but I think I might be moving too fast ahead of myself, and I have a lot more to learn to figure out what I can do to help in the best way that I can, because right now, I just don’t know.

Trying to gather information and ideas of interconnectedness, I found some statements by Therborn that helps bring pieces of the puzzle to fit with the whole, “Existential inequality may be seen as a cultural distinction between worth and unworthy persons. Conflicts around it involve the drawing of categorical boundaries, and of naming and renaming…” As these categories are influenced by educational and public policies for social mobility, how do we fix it? I assume that the money and morals exists to put new solutions in place to provide equal opportunities, so what is the hold up? It is 2017. Therborn also says, “Current invocations of a knowledge economy and a knowledge society highlight the increasing importance of knowledge as a resource, and of knowledge inequality as a crucial form of resource inequality.” He also says, “Existential inequality usually includes inheritance of different life chances.” Due to the way that things already are, it is way past due the time to make things right for everyone to be able to access equal opportunities. It looks like the whole world is a commodity and the cumulative inequalities exist due to a “brain drain” in many places. The mention of a theoretical level by Amartya Sen’s (1992) Inequality Examined, which asked, “Inequality of what?”  and answered it by focusing on human capability. I think that human capability is one of the main things that control many people into being incapable of a living a life that is protected from discrimination, a lack of good quality education, to help them gain living wages and opportunities. So it is consistent inequality of opportunity and lack of justice, but why? It is sort of a relief to see Therborn write that inequality should be understood as a plurality, as inequalities, because lately I have been feeling stressed as if I have to pick just one inequality to concentrate on. I am trying to get to the bottom of all of this, I know that there is only so much that I can do, but I want to make sure that I am in the right position where I need to be. It is both reassuring and overwhelming to hear that if, “one thinks that inequality or equality are important outcomes, social science should try to systematize the mechanisms of their production”. I am on a mission to, “get a grasp of global multidimensionality and global cum-sub-global causality.” I thought that I was the only one asking these questions of why there is inequality in the world. I am trying to pinpoint where is the best place to start to fix the underlying issues of how so many are denied the chance to live their lives at all. “…to live a life of dignity, to try out their interests in life, to make use of their existing potential. The inequalities of the world prevent hundreds of millions of people from developing their differences.” How I dwell on finding the solutions to these inequalities. I wonder how am I supposed to advocate for the proper approach to diminish the negative forces of patriarchy, slavery, caste systems, estates, racism, and religious domination and dogma. Where does it all begin?? I intend to find out.