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Australians are feeling disconnected from the abundant wealth around them and are responding with envy and fear, according to a University of Western Sydney academic addressing a conference on poverty this week in Sydney.
Dr James Arvanitakis, a former economist and banker now with the UWS School of Humanities and Languages, will discuss the issue at the Council of Social Service of New South Wales (NCOSS) "Perspectives on Poverty" conference on Wednesday 17 October.
According to Dr Arvanitakis, repeated surveys show, rather than sensing the unprecedented prosperity around them, Australians are actually feeling there is not enough to go around.
"In a time of wealth we are actually experiencing a sense of scarcity rather than abundance," Dr Arvanitakis says.
"The disconnection between wealth and abundance has become a defining characteristic of our times. It's triggered the emergence of 'downward envy', support for draconian measures towards refugees and the rise of the concept of the deserving poor. Those within these categories are seen to compete for limited resources that the rest of us have had to fight for."
Dr Arvanitakis says the sense of competition over perceived scarce resources emerges in all aspects of life and that there is fear there are only limited opportunities in both the present and also the future.
"If we are to confront this emergence of 'scarcity', then there is a need to seek fundamental changes to the structures and institutions in modern Australian society," he says.
Dr Arvanitakis is conducting research that analyses the inability of people to envisage a world where there is enough to share. He says this leads people to see the world as a place of scarcity, competition and limited opportunities rather than believing a better world is possible for all.
Dr Arvanitakis has written on "Hope" and "Redesigning the Global Economy". He is a member of the University of Western Sydney's Centre for Cultural Research, a board member of Aid/Watch, and a research fellow at the Centre for Policy Development.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
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