Do We Legitimize Inequality?

In many ways, we probably do.

Personally think the biggest two issues of the next 50–100 years are probably (a) drought and (b) inequality, with a potential © choice of “automating every job possible to chase profits, thus creating a world where no one can really work.” That last one might be a bit further out.

As for inequality, that’s a big one — and it’s getting worse — and, uh, turns out it might be self-sustaining. Check out this, via Stanford:

“It creates a great deal of dissonance to think ‘I’m disadvantaged in this situation and it’s totally unfair that I am,’” says Willer, who conducted the research with several professors, including the paper’s lead author, Jojanneke van der Toorn, a professor of psychology at Leiden University, in the Netherlands. “People tend to reduce dissonance they feel, so they convince themselves that their situation is legitimate and acceptable. If you don’t feel like you can change your circumstances, rationalizing them may feel like the only…