Capital and Ideology

By reading this koob, you will discover, through comparative, long-term analysis of economic data and social distribution, how our ideologies have evolved in ways to countenance inequality.

You will also learn:

• Large-scale transformations come from the collision of ideas and events

• Inequality is a political choice, and ideology serves to justify it

• Progressive income tax has promoted economic growth while lowering the level of inequality

• Today’s societies bear the marks of those that preceded them

• The communist experience has influenced subsequent ideologies for better and for worse

• Inclusive educational institutions and investment in skills have historically been great equalizing forces

• It is not enough to parse historical data; you have to put forward solutions to build more egalitarian societies

Throughout history, societies have considerably evolved, moving from a ternary order to today’s hypercapitalist society. Examining a vast database, economist Thomas Piketty analyzes the evolutions and transformations that have shaped the world; each period of history boasting an ideology that enabled the acceptance of a specific model of organization and distribution of wealth. Ideology provides a core set of values and beliefs justifying the inequalities generated by a societal model. A study of the varying trajectories taken by successive societies in history disrupts the deterministic world view and shows the multiplicity of ideologies. This begs the question that today it may be possible to break from inherited models and choose to develop a new, more egalitarian society.