The inner level : how more equal societies reduce stress, restore sanity and improve everyone's well-being
Richard G. Wilkinson (Author),Kate Pickett (Author)
"Why are people more relaxed and at ease with each other in some countries than others? Why do we worry so much about what others think of us and often feel social life is a stressful performance? Why is mental illness three times as common in the USA as in Germany? Why is the American dream more of a reality in Denmark than the USA? What makes child well-being so much worse in some countries than others? As The Inner Level demonstrates, the answer to all these is inequality. Wilkinson and Pickett describe how these responses to hierarchies evolved, and why the impacts of inequality on us are so severe. In doing so, they challenge the conception that humans are inescapably competitive and self-interested. They undermine, too, the idea that inequality is the product of "natural" differences in individual ability. This book draws together many of the most urgent problems facing societies today, but it is not just an index of our ills. It demonstrates that societies based on fundamental equalities, sharing and reciprocity generate much higher levels of well-being, and lays out the path towards them"-- Provided by publisher
xxv, 324 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 20 cm
9780141975399, 0141975393
1091644373
This is not a "self-help" book
Self-doubt
Delusions of grandeur
False remedies
The human condition
The misconception of meritocracy
Class acts
A sustainable future?
A better world
Originally published: UK: Allen Lane, 2018