The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die

The book’s primary theme is the psychological consequences of inequality. Payne states early on that he is not necessarily interested in what first caused inequality (although he touches on this) but rather how inequality shapes our thought processes and decision-making. His primary thesis is that inequality affects us all in a systematic and predictable way, and that inequality, not poverty, is what matters most. In short, Payne is most concerned with inequality’s effects on humans.

Payne tackles this theme throughout the empirical chapters that comprise the bulk of the book. He shows that inequality causes people to engage in riskier behavior because feeling poor makes humans place extreme focus on the present at the cost of the future. This leads to self-defeating behavior because instead of planning for the future, the poor are constantly dealing with crises of the present, which traps them in poverty. Similarly, inequality also pushes us further to the left or the right, and we become less likely to compromise in our political positions. This is because people vote for policies and parties they feel are in their self-interest, and inequality changes our perception of what is or isn’t in our self-interest. As inequality grows, we grow further and further apart from each other and, because we believe that we see the world objectively, we become more likely to see those who disagree with us as idiots. This explains why politics has become more divisive as inequality has grown.

Another consequence of inequality is poorer health outcomes. Notably, inequality worsens health regardless of a country’s actual income, meaning that highly unequal societies have poorer health than more equal ones, even if their total income is the same. This is due to our stress response system, which helps us deal with short-term crises at the expense of long-term health. In addition to inspiring unhealthy behavior and poor decision-making, simply living in an unequal society can activate this stress response system for years at a time, which devastates our bodies, leading to obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety.

Inequality also changes how we perceive the world. Because our brains are primed to find patterns, which we find psychologically soothing, we respond to the stress caused by an unequal environment by imposing order through religious or conspiratorial thinking. The very presence of inequality shapes how we view reality. Similarly, inequality inflames racial prejudice, and in turn racial stereotypes are used to justify inequality. When faced with a stressful situation (which is caused by inequality), we are more likely to rely on our implicit biases, and so we act in prejudiced ways even if we intended to act fairly. Finally, the presence of inequality makes us feel less satisfied with our work, which impacts job performance.

In unequal situations when we perceive ourselves to have low social status, our entire body focuses on the present at the expense of the future. This explains why inequality causes so many problems and why it creates such a powerful trap.