Impakter
  • FINANCE
    • ESG News
    • Sustainable Finance
    • Business
  • TECH
    • Start-up
    • AI & Machine Learning
    • Green Tech
  • Environment
    • Biodiversity
    • Climate Change
    • Circular Economy
    • Energy
  • Industry News
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Health
    • Politics & Foreign Affairs
    • Philanthropy
    • Science
    • Sport
  • Editorial Series
    • SDGs Series
    • Shape Your Future
    • Sustainable Cities
      • Copenhagen
      • San Francisco
      • Seattle
      • Sydney
  • About us
    • Company
    • Team
    • Global Leaders
    • Partners
    • Write for Impakter
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
  • FINANCE
    • ESG News
    • Sustainable Finance
    • Business
  • TECH
    • Start-up
    • AI & Machine Learning
    • Green Tech
  • Environment
    • Biodiversity
    • Climate Change
    • Circular Economy
    • Energy
  • Industry News
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Health
    • Politics & Foreign Affairs
    • Philanthropy
    • Science
    • Sport
  • Editorial Series
    • SDGs Series
    • Shape Your Future
    • Sustainable Cities
      • Copenhagen
      • San Francisco
      • Seattle
      • Sydney
  • About us
    • Company
    • Team
    • Global Leaders
    • Partners
    • Write for Impakter
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Impakter
No Result
View All Result
Home Society Politics & Foreign Affairs

The Joker Effect: Consequences of Inequality in Society

bySamuel Perez-Attias
November 1, 2019
in Politics & Foreign Affairs, Society
Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix. Credit: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy Stock Photo, Allstar Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo, Atlaspix/Alamy Stock Photo, Niko Tavernise

Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix. Photo Credit: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy Stock Photo, Allstar Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo, Atlaspix/Alamy Stock Photo, Niko Tavernise

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

As time progresses, increasing economic inequality and social immobility are evident in the emergence of poverty as one of the consequences of market liberalization policies and structural adjustment programs that were implemented in the 1990s. This new reality has spurred research that analyzes our social, political, ecological and personal relations systems.

Wilkinson and Pickett, two academics, did a study called The Spirit Level that sparked controversial debates in the UK when the results were presented. The authors conveyed that, in the present-day industrialized world, there are important correlations between indices of economic inequality and various social ills.

For example, OECD countries with higher income inequality rates have higher rates of violence, lower rates of health, lower social capital indices, higher trends in the usage of illegal drugs and antidepressant medications, and lower life expectancies, among other undesirable correlations and consequences. (Wilkinson et.al., 2009)

Homicide rates, on the other hand, are higher in more unequal countries and in more unequal states across the U.S.A. In Guatemala, when comparing maps depicting inequality and homicide, the two issues are shown to be positively correlated in regions, departments, and municipalities. (Mendoza, 2018)


Editor’s Picks: And Change is Coming Whether You Like it or Not | My Truth, Your Truth, Their Truth, and “The” Truth  | Containing Migration is a Mistake

“Inequality predicts homicide rates better than any other variable,” says Martin Daly Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of McMaster, Ontario.

Extremism is also exacerbated by inequality. The Psychology Associate Professor, Lotte Thomsen of the University of Oslo says: “We see a vicious circle: The greater the inequality in a society, the more privileged groups tend to support the structures that maintain those hierarchies. People from these groups will also tend to use violence to maintain their position.” (PNAS, 2016)

According to the World Bank, there is a robust direct correlation between greater inequality and the incidence of robberies or homicides. The organization also indicates that reducing poverty and inequality accelerates the increase in people’s per capita income which, in turn, reduces crime rates. (B.M. 2002)

Graph of inequality vs homicide rates
 Photo Credit: The Equality Trust UK

So, what is the Joker Effect?

I relate these findings to the character of the Joker from Batman. The Joker grew up and lived in the unequal and corrupt Gotham City which mirrors the reality of many societies today that have high rates of inequality and social exclusion. Gotham City is a society that privileges some groups and excludes others, whether that be based on their skin color, their mental health condition, their sex, gender identity, ethnicity or economic status. In a society’s institutions, non-formal structures, and day to day social interactions, inequality silently cultivates frustrations, disagreements, resentments and anger amongst a silent majority.

Given this perceived inability for one to escape their condition of poverty and invisibility that socio-economic exclusion provides for a society, the excluded person will resort to heterodox, illegal, and/or immoral methods to liberate themselves from the dark hole of invisibility and the lack of opportunities for the construction of their own freedom. A Joker is unleashed and other copycats will follow.

Addressing inequalities is a task that must be prioritized by any government and supported by any citizen because its negative consequences affect the integral well-being of every individual, regardless of their social status, political ideology, gender or position in society.


Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by Impakter.com columnists are their own, not those of Impakter.com.
Featured Image: Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix — Photo Credit: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy Stock Photo, Allstar Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo, Atlaspix/Alamy Stock Photo, Niko Tavernise
Tags: HomicideInequalityJoker EffectpovertypsychologyRachel Klein
Previous Post

Despite the Climate Emergency, Developing Countries Still Deserve Help With Extractives

Next Post

State of the Earth 2019: Red alert

Samuel Perez-Attias

Samuel Perez-Attias

Economics Professor at the Universidad Rafael Landivar in Guatemala and Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, Canada. Economist with post graduate studies in local development. (Guatemala and USA) Post graduate studies in Sustainable Development from the Earth Institute.(USA) Post graduate courses in experiential education and Youth Leadership (Israel). Loves to play percussion and Cajón. I also write an op-ed column in Guatemalan Newspaper Plaza Publica and El Periodico. Currently working on a documentary film about Inequality in Guatemala.

Related Posts

Avian Influenza
Food and Agriculture

Why Avian Influenza Should Be on Your Radar

June 20, 2025
Iran and Biological Weapons: Could There Be Another Hidden Weapon of Mass Destruction?
Politics & Foreign Affairs

Iran and Biological Weapons: Could There Be Another Hidden Weapon of Mass Destruction?

June 18, 2025
What Makes Today’s Debt Crisis so Pernicious?
Environment

What Makes Today’s Debt Crisis so Pernicious?

June 18, 2025
Next Post
State of the Earth 2019: Red alert

State of the Earth 2019: Red alert

Recent News

ESG News regarding Turkey Probes Google’s AI Ad Tool

Turkey Scrutinizes Google’s AI Ad Platform

June 20, 2025
Avian Influenza

Why Avian Influenza Should Be on Your Radar

June 20, 2025
Egypt Awaits Israel’s Gas Exports Amid Conflict

Egypt Awaits Israel’s Gas Exports Amid Conflict

June 20, 2025

Impakter informs you through the ESG news site and empowers your business CSRD compliance and ESG compliance with its Klimado SaaS ESG assessment tool marketplace that can be found on: www.klimado.com

Registered Office Address

Klimado GmbH
Niddastrasse 63,

60329, Frankfurt am Main, Germany


IMPAKTER is a Klimado GmbH website

Impakter is a publication that is identified by the following International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is the following 2515-9569 (Printed) and 2515-9577 (online – Website).


Office Hours - Monday to Friday

9.30am - 5.00pm CEST


Email

stories [at] impakter.com

By Audience

  • TECH
    • Start-up
    • AI & MACHINE LEARNING
    • Green Tech
  • ENVIRONMENT
    • Biodiversity
    • Energy
    • Circular Economy
    • Climate Change
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Health
    • Politics & Foreign Affairs
    • Philanthropy
    • Science
    • Sport
    • Editorial Series

ESG/Finance Daily

  • ESG News
  • Sustainable Finance
  • Business

Klimado Platform

  • Klimado ESG Tool
  • Impakter News

About Us

  • Team
  • Global Leaders
  • Partners
  • Write for Impakter
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© 2025 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • FINANCE
    • ESG News
    • Sustainable Finance
    • Business
  • TECH
    • Start-up
    • AI & Machine Learning
    • Green Tech
  • Environment
    • Biodiversity
    • Climate Change
    • Circular Economy
    • Energy
  • Industry News
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Health
    • Politics & Foreign Affairs
    • Philanthropy
    • Science
    • Sport
  • Editorial Series
    • SDGs Series
    • Shape Your Future
    • Sustainable Cities
      • Copenhagen
      • San Francisco
      • Seattle
      • Sydney
  • About us
    • Company
    • Team
    • Global Leaders
    • Partners
    • Write for Impakter
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy

© 2024 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.