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--- name: Inequality slug: inequality type: systemic condition status: running version: 11.4.2 released: "prehistory" maintainer: no one in particular dependencies: - power - scarcity - inherited advantage - collective indifference license: Proprietary (terms vary by jurisdiction, heavily) tags: - economics - politics - society - distribution - persistent ---
The gap between what people have and what people have access to, compounded daily, running in the background of every system you use.
Inequality does not announce itself. It accumulates quietly, like interest. A small asymmetry in starting conditions gets amplified by every subsequent interaction: which school you attend, which neighborhood you are born into, whether your family holds assets or debt. The gap does not need active maintenance. It is self-sustaining once initialized.
The mechanism is recursive. Those with more resources can purchase protection from the consequences of inequality. Those without cannot. This is not a bug introduced by bad actors. It is the default output of systems optimized for efficiency rather than distribution.
# Default settings (most deployments)
inheritance_tax: minimal
capital_gains_rate: lower than labor
social_mobility: low
public_services: underfunded
baseline_safety_net: contested
narrative_defaults:
- "anyone can make it"
- "the market decided"
Warning: Adjusting
inheritance_taxabove 0.4 triggers significant user complaints from approximately 1% of the population, who are disproportionately represented in the feedback channels.
| Code | Message | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
GINI_OVERFLOW | Coefficient exceeds social cohesion threshold | Common |
MOBILITY_STALL | Intergenerational variance below detectable levels | Very common |
ACCESS_DENIED | Healthcare, legal representation, clean water | Constant |
NARRATIVE_MISMATCH | Lived experience conflicts with official documentation | Universal |
Is this fixable? Historically, yes, partially, temporarily, under specific conditions including war, pandemic, or sufficiently organized collective action.
Why does it persist? The people most capable of changing the configuration are the people most advantaged by the current settings.
Is inequality the same as poverty? No. Poverty is the floor. Inequality is the distance between the floor and the ceiling. You can raise the floor without lowering the ceiling and call it progress.
What depends on this? More than anyone finds comfortable to list. See: class, race, gender, housing, and most documented forms of suffering.