About Unequal
As you may have guessed, the Unequal newsletter is about inequality.
Most of us have faced situations where we have felt that the world is unfair. That it has denied us what should rightfully be ours, even as some others have it relatively easy because of where they were born.
As Motihari’s most famous son famously observed, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Some others have it much worse than we do. Despite the considerable economic and technological progress of the last few centuries, it is astonishing that billions still have to struggle to fulfil their basic needs. That poverty is still a trap. That one in ten of the world’s citizens goes to bed hungry.
Things were bad. Then the pandemic made them much worse. Millions more have plunged into poverty in the last two years even as the top one percent has accumulated wealth at an unprecedented rate.
Things are going to get even worse because of climate change. The worst of its impacts are being faced by those who are least well equipped to deal with them and those who did nothing to set us on the path to climate catastrophe in the first place.
Economic inequalities have informed and influenced our politics too. In the previous decade, people’s frustrations with inequalities were the backbone of social unrest–from the Arab Spring to the Chilean protests.
And all evidence suggests that inequality will feature even more prominently in politics around the world for years to come. Unemployment rates have soared in large parts of the world. Even the highly educated are struggling to find jobs.
Many are pissed off with how broken the ‘system’ is. If that’s you, this newsletter is for you.
Unequal is my attempt to track various aspects of inequality around the world, focusing especially on South Asia.
I bring analysis, news roundups, data snapshots, original reportage, interviews, reading suggestions and maybe even an occasional opinion piece to your inbox.
Through my podcast, I speak to experts from across the world on issues of inequality. You can subscribe to the podcast on different platforms — Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Pocket Casts.
Wish me luck. And yes, please subscribe and share.
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