By Vladimir Shlapentokh and Jeff Oliver
This is a piece that I wrote with the late Vladimir Shlapentokh in January 2013 as a potential op-ed piece. It represents the core of a lot of our thinking during the time we worked together.
The poor are lazy—at least this appears to be the opinion of many Americans today. However shocking it may appear, a 2012 Salvation Army report[i] asserts that 43% of Americans believe that the poor could find jobs if they really wanted to work. Ironically, 88% of Americans also agree that poor families should receive some form of assistance. This seeming irony is not limited to the realm of public opinion. One need only look as far as the most recent presidential campaign, or the budget cut talks of last August in which President Obama called the House GOP budget a “Trojan horse” of “social Darwinism” to see the coexistence of these two ideas—on the one hand, the feeling that the poor are “lazy” and an economic burden, and on the other seeing the need to help those who are without certain means.
Perhaps in the “social Darwinism” of rightist radicals (the Tea Party not excluded) are echoes of Nietzsche’s cult of “Übermench” and his general contempt for weak people. The ideas of Nietzche are not as far distant as it may seem, being present in substance even in the most recent presidential campaign (with one party arguing for the support of the poor and underprivileged, and the other seeking to protect the interests of the “productive”—wealthy—members of American society, averring that wealth and prosperity will “trickle down” to the poor). However, today, in the age of American political correctness we usually do not talk about the weak in the same terms as Nietzsche (or even in the style of Ayn Rand in which we would employ terms such as “parasite”, “looter” or “moocher”). Instead, we prefer to talk about the “vulnerable” within our society.
Ultimately, while fully aware of the argument on both sides of the political spectrum, both sides are missing the point in some ways. For example, how can we argue that to some degree, giving too much aid with nothing in return is likely to put a strain on the economic system? However, how can we argue that we are to do nothing to aid those who are impecunious, lacking in opportunities to gain increased knowledge or without certain beneficial social connections?
We maintain that this whole argument can be subsumed into a consideration of the unequal distribution of scarce resources within groups as well as between them. While extremists on the political right and left can argue about the “haves” and “have-nots” in terms of groups (such as the “lower class”) they are forgetting thousands of individuals within groups of all types who are abused by their own.
We argue that there are many types of resources, and that the unequal distribution of those resources can lead to the abuse of power within groups. These many resources can be as diverse as health, knowledge, position in an organization, physical attractiveness or physical strength (yes, even the use of this resource takes place in modern society years removed from Neanderthals and the Stone Age).
Individuals from all groups and classes (whether rich or poor, elite or underprivileged) may lack certain resources needed to allay an abuse of power against them. One need only look as far as the recent military sex abuse scandals in the United States to better understand unequal distribution of resources and abuse in a way that transcends group affiliation, but can be explained by unequal resources. For example, while a soldier in the military may possess many resources such as social connections or a certain degree of economic wealth, certain resources are not possessed in equal measure by all within the group (military unit). In the case of the sex abuse scandals in the armed forces, often it is the resource of status or position which is disproportionately possessed. This disparate distribution of that particular resource is then used to sexually abuse, even rape a fellow soldier with less “status.” It is also the unequal distribution of status and position that often keeps the victim from reporting the travesty for fear of retaliation. It is not only in the armed forces, but manifested also in a co-resident of a nursing home sexually abusing another, a bully in a school physically or emotionally assailing a fellow student or even an undocumented immigrant driving a compatriot out of business due to a perceived threat to business.
Social scientists have often explained conflicts and abuses as they occur between different groups such as the poor and the rich, the rulers and those who are ruled. However, these conflicts and abuses also exist within groups. Many of these abuses often go unnoticed due to the focus of academia and government on conflict between groups rather than within them. Certainly battered women, abused children and certain types of exploited persons within organizations have been helped by programs and agencies designed to give assistance. However, the large majority of these types of cases go unreported. Rapes in the military by fellow soldiers; bullies at school; spouse and child abuse; and injustices against the elderly who are abused physically, financially, sexually and emotionally by caretakers are all purported by experts in those fields to be underreported. This suggests that we are not reaching many of the abused members of our society. This is a tragedy given that the abused individuals in all of these situations are often without resources to prevent or overcome the abuses they suffer. The resource needed to escape abuse may vary from case to case, but in all cases, without the proper resources (emotional, social, intellectual, physical, financial or otherwise) the victims remain victims unable to escape the abuse.
Of course, the government spends a great deal of money on seeking equality within the nation (Affirmative Action, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, and the Americans with Disabilities Act—“ADA” to name just a few). Yet, so many victims of abuse within groups continue to be abused by people close to them due to a lack of resources. There are thousands and thousands of these victims—children who are bullied by peers in school, abused co-residents in nursing homes and soldiers who are raped by fellow members of the armed forces. Regardless of party affiliation, perhaps we can all agree that those who have nowhere else to turn due to a lack of resource need more help and attention than they have been receiving.
[i] Reported at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-
