Interviewed in the Guardian on 4 February about her new book, The Good Society, the author Kate Pickett argues that there is now incontrovertible evidence that inequality within the UK is causing the chronic stress that is beginning to place an “untenable burden” upon our society.
Pickett also suggests there is similarly more and more evidence that ACEs, otherwise known as adverse childhood experiences, which can include anything from homelessness to violence from mental illness to imprisonment, can lead to worse outcomes for individuals in everything from education to life expectancy to health.
Consequently, Pickett is a supporter of universal basic income, which she states would establish basic autonomy and dignity and a form of support if Artificial Intelligence was to take your job.
Pickett also describes money as the ultimate personal medicine and points out that every £1 000 increase in household income can be translated into 3.6 months of extra life expectancy.
Therefore, Pickett wants to see a more equal society with progressive taxation, citizen assemblies, participative budgeting and the strengthening of trade unions in the country. Alongside this there should be a National Institute for Social Change for what she describes as “ongoing proper assessment of the effectiveness of proposed social policies and their cost effectiveness” ,with the government then acting accordingly to these findings.
Pickett also advocates for a National Care Service built in a similar way to the NHS, while a National Education Service and or National Children’s Service would also be helpful.
The Book Launch
The book, The Good Society, was launched on 4 February, in an event organised by Compass. Pickett, who is also well-known as co-author of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, was one of four speakers at the event.
The other speakers included writer and journalist George Monbiot, while another was the ex-leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas. The quartet was completed by the inclusion of Baroness Ruth Lister, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, Loughborough University, a Labour peer and Vice Chair of the Compass Board.
We were welcomed by Neal Lawso, the chair of Compass, who reminded us that the development of a good society is the lodestar of Compass politics.
We also heard from Priya Sahni-Nicholas from the Equality Trust who argued that inequality is at the core of our problems and that Kate’s book states inequality needs to be taken seriously, not just as an add-on to government policy.
Kate Pickett
Kate related how she started the book with an encounter with political protest in York, where she came across some artwork with a quote from Marcel Proust stating that we are too ready to believe that the present is the only possible state of affairs.
For decades we have been focussed on the damage inequality has done, through austerity, the cost of living crisis, the global rise in autocracy, and the climate emergency. It is no wonder that so many feel stuck.
Unfortunately, evidence is too often left gathering dust on shelves, yet the idea of a better state of things is a practical evidence based reality. And none of us truly prosper when others don’t. This book is about hope and filling in the action gap.
If you lower inequality, you can predict outcomes and produce a better environment, with a stronger democracy and higher social cohesion.’ It is not just about money, but the toxic levels of social stress which force us into conspicuous consumption and on occasions withdrawal into depression and anxiety.
There are four key areas in the book as Kate looks at things she knows best: health care in all its forms, education and the judicial system.
In health we need a social ecosystem where prevention is the priority. After all there is a 10-year gap in life expectancy between the rich and poor in Britain today.
With regards to social care, we need a system that really cares about people, while at present, every bit of the social care system is broken. Care should be funded, respected and respectful.
As for the Education system it is presently leaving 37% of students without basic skills by the age of 15. Education should be inspiring creativity and leaving nobody behind.
In our prisons, we have the highest rate of incarceration in Western Europe. One third have learning difficulties while huge numbers are neuro-diverse and/or have had ACEs in their early years. We must pivot to focus on prevention and rehabilitation, with an evidence-based approach and we have examples from elsewhere to learn from.
We also have to live within our boundaries and adapt practices where well-being is put at the centre of policy-making.
Constructing a better society from good examples
This is not utopian. We can construct a picture of a better society from examples; everything we might want is happening somewhere, but not everywhere. The ideas are possible and can work. We have the vision and can borrow from places that do things well and put a coherent package together.
For example, we can borrow ideas from Denmark for social care, Finland for education and Costa Rica for environmental protections.
We need UBI and a tax on wealth to reduce inequality and this will bring all kinds of beneficial spin-offs.
Alongside this, we need to give people a voice and agency to shape societal policies, with ways to get evidence into politics and policy, with an Institute for Social Change.
We can create the good society we all want.
Ruth Lister
Ruth Lister spoke of the powerful combination of evidence and clear values that makes the book an important contribution towards building a better society.
The basic mechanism that links to outcomes is chronic social stress. Living in a more unequal society changes the way we see and relate to each other.
We need to understand the psychological and emotional effects of inequality and in this respect, a human rights perspective would be helpful, to remind us of the need for respect for all people’s dignity. As part of this, we need to ensure that children have a say in building a good society.
Policies should be evidence-based underpinned by strong ethical values, building a society with practical feet on the ground.
George Monbiot
George Monbiot commented that this is a crucial book, coming at a shocking but not surprising moment as news of corruption comes to the surface. Peter Mandelson ran a fifth column, working to undermine democracy and against public interest and what we see coming out is simply Mandelson taking that mandate a little further.
Mandelson worked for the institutionalisation of corporate power in government, with neoliberalism acting as a powerful driver of inequality and destruction of both the living world and our psyches. All these problems are exasperated by neoliberalism, with the transfer of decision-making from the political sphere to the economic sphere.
Neoliberalism seeks to strip away regulation, taxation, protest, organised labour, politics and democracy itself. This was Mandelson’s agenda; the enrichment of the super-rich.
The stripping away of regulation leads to the hierarchy of greed, power, exploitation and cruelty and the worst human instincts being rewarded, we see this today with the work of Trump and by Starmer as well, punishing people for being poor.
However, this extraordinary moment could help inspire a shift away from neoliberalism.
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas commented that she really appreciates the book, especially as it has a solutions focus. It is not just about problems; solutions are there from the start and there is no reason why we couldn’t adopt any of the solutions in the book as they have all been adopted somewhere. These ideas make people’s lives better and we have to question why is it that this government is not adapting them. It is a lack of vision and political will.
We have to change the political system. We need a better functioning democracy whose route and goal is moving towards a better society, where everyone’s voices are heard, where people can affect things in their own communities. The problem is systemic. We need deliberative democracy with citizen assemblies and radical devolution, both of which could reverse the trend towards disengagement with politics. We need to consider the potential of measures like Universal Basic Income to enhance engagement.
Without changing the system, we are in danger of becoming a far-right society. The present government is providing an example of laying down the red carpet for Reform. Starmer doesn’t seem to believe that the British public wants a more progressive government, but the Attlee government showed what could be done. Labour has squandered its chance, and people won’t come over from Reform and people have somewhere else to go in the Greens. Labour should be changing the system and rolling out devolution.
We should be changing the system, so that we don’t slip even further into the authoritarianism of the far-right. We all need a sense of agency over our lives and the places we live. Otherwise, there is a real chance of societal breakdown. The Mandelson scandal has deepened disillusionment to further fuel the far right and this book also reminds us to restore rights of nature and democratising the media.
Building a good society
This discussion provided a vision of a better society and showed that such a society is totally realistic, by it being fundamentally built from policies that have already been shown to work. We desperately need a fairer and better functioning political system, as people need to feel heard.
Kate ended the event with a topline message “don’t lose hope, don’t give up on the good society; it is possible if we work together and organise in our communities. We all need to think about what we can do in the movement towards a good society and let us weave that good society together.”
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