The increase in economic inequality, driven by the imbalance between capital and labor, is likely to lead to dystopia without intervention that would reverse the trend. This Article examines dystopian-bound societies, explaining disparities of wealth, income, and per capita growth in various regions of the world. The Author analyzes the reasons for the imbalance between capital and labor, particularly the expansion of economic globalization and technology. The Article explains how the substitution of capital for labor impacts manufacturing and service sectors of industry. The Author also points out that the inequality could erode democracy because of the detrimental effect on the middle class. The Author delves into the correlation between the increase in economic inequality and the exacerbation of social problems, including mental illness, life expectancy, obesity, teenage births, homicides, and imprisonment.
The trend, the Author expounds, could be reversed by a political policy that would address the inequalities. Noting that economic inequality is worldwide, the Article also highlights other proposed solutions, including a globalized tax on capital and a symposium that addresses employment issues that feed into the economic inequality. The Author identifies gender and race discrimination, wage inequity, and the impact of unions as opportunities for employment-centric solutions that would address economic inequality. By identifying and examining the consequences of remaining on a path of increasing economic inequality that leads to dystopia, this Article offers multiple approaches to reverse the trend.