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Inequality and Political Stability
Since the birth of civilisation there have always been extremes of wealth and poverty. Many societies from the Roman Empire to Victorian Britain have had a small very rich elite who rule over the masses. The Roman Empire had very high levels of slavery. The working class in Victorian Britain was exploited and impoverished. And yet they were both societies that survived and thrived.
Why then should the increasing levels of inequality in the West be destabilising? Peter Turchin in his recently published book End Times has developed an interesting explanation which has implications for all of us. He says increasing levels of inequality have two