‘What’s been an inverted pyramid in our society since time immemorial is wealth distribution.’
IMAGINE an inverted one-dimensional pyramid. The pointed tip, usually at the top, is now at the bottom. And the wide base is now facing the sky. Imagine that the pyramid has a mass – so now imagine the enormous pressure being exerted on that solitary tip as it balances the weight of the whole structure and makes sure the whole inverted pyramid doesn’t topple over.
A family can look this way if there is one solitary breadwinner on whose shoulders rests the needs of others. The solitary tip could be one of the parents working, or a son or daughter who has to support his parents and siblings. Expand that and society can look this way too – and this is indeed the case in many countries the world over.
I need not name them but many countries in Europe and some in Asia are beginning to look like inverted pyramids in many ways. In those countries where population growth has slowed or reversed, the inverted pyramid is the story of a shrinking working population that supports the needs of a growing number of senior citizens. It is why social security in many countries is in trouble – too few contributors and too many pensioners. The same is true with the labor force – fewer and fewer job market entrants to fill in vacancies. So either the society automates or imports workers. And either option comes with opportunities and risks.
Thankfully, the Philippines has ways to go before it becomes, population-wise, an inverted pyramid. We still have more babies being born than loved ones passing away, so our population growth remains a tick above the basic replacement ratio. But even our population growth rate has slowed; we are no longer as prolific in baby-making as we were before. So yes, sometime in the distant future, even the Philippines will see far fewer working men and women supporting a much larger population of retirees.
But just not yet.
What’s been an inverted pyramid in our society since time immemorial is wealth distribution. While population-wise, we have a huge base and a smaller segment of seniors/dependents/pensioners, wealth-wise we have an inverted pyramid where the vast majority of wealth is at the very top and a small percentage is at the very bottom.
In my senior years, I often wonder how long would these two pyramids persist one overlayed on the other. The proper one with the large base, population-wise, living in a financial world where the pyramid is inverted, wealth-wise? Will the existence of these two not eventually create friction and lead to a clash – as many societies around the world experienced in the 1960s and 1970s?
Or has technology taken the place of religion to become the “opium of the masses” providing the wealthy and influential few the leverage they need to keep the impoverished many at bay?
