Can Blockchain Solve The Problem of Social Inequality?

Social inequality: Who is suffering from this problem?

Social inequality among different strata of society has always been and, unfortunately, remains relevant up to this day.

For the past 10 years, society has been actively fighting this issue. There are many ways to donate money to people in need, activists (including celebrities) travel to the countries of the 3rd world and try to improve the general standard of living of local residents. For example, they provide food and access to education by teaching the residents of African countries to math, reading, writing, etc.

But, alas, social inequality does not end there – it is much closer than it might seem at first sight.

To be objective, people differ in gender, age, temperament, height, weight, skin color, intelligence, nationality, sexual orientation, and many other characteristics. Therefore, we are unequal in nature. BUT, the fact is that it should be a reason for pride, not discrimination or infringement of rights in any way! Differences between people due to their physiological and mental characteristics are called natural.

Social differences are considered to be those that are generated by social factors. For example, the way of life in the city or countryside, the division of labor into mental and physical, social roles, a high ranking in society, the owning a car or expensive equipment, education, etc. Different levels of social development are the basis for social inequality, the emergence of the concept of “rich nobles” and “poor”, stratification of society.

Now, when we figured out the basic concepts, now let’s move on to the next question.

How can blockchain help combat social inequality?

More than 10 years have passed since the inception of the first Bitcoin blockchain. Since then blockchain technology and its applications have captured the imagination of the whole world including entrepreneurs, economists, bankers, venture capitalists, and the public. Many even believe that this technology will completely change the world.

In order to understand how blockchain can help with social inequality, it is worth first realizing the fact that almost 80% of the world’s wealth belongs to the 1% of the richest people in the world.

Is it fair? No! Is this adequate? No! But, unfortunately, we live in a world where someone is already born a millionaire, and someone needs to work hard and long to own at least a small portion of it.

And, what does the blockchain have to do with it? Such deplorable statistics, of course, can be explained by the fact that this 1% of the wealthy people invested most of their capital in enterprises, stocks, and other financial assets, which brought them significant benefits. And this would be logical. But the problem is that most of the globe simply cannot participate in such transactions, which serves as an additional impetus for the development of social inequality. Blockchain can really help this problem with cryptocurrencies and decentralization. In other words, blockchain opens up more investment opportunities around the world.

The problem with finance in third world countries. Let’s take a look at the following example:

As an example, we will take a man named Andy, and suppose that Andy lives in a far from the “metropolis” village in Nigeria. In order to get a credit or debit card, Andy needs to get into a physical bank branch, which can be very, very far away. The absence of a card for payments implies that Andy only has fiat (physical) money, while a debit payment card allows you to make purchases/payments on the Internet and much more.

Since the world of finance has been increasingly going online, the situation has improved a lot. Now our Andy can create a virtual card (if he has access to the Internet). Moreover, Andy can register on a cryptocurrency exchange and even work with digital currencies.

In this case, the blockchain significantly expands the ways Andy can earn money. And, if earlier, our character had the opportunity to earn money only locally performing physical/mental labor. Now, using the blockchain, he has the opportunity to receive both fiat and cryptocurrency payments around the world.

For example, having studied the basic basics of cryptocurrency trading, Andy can register on a cryptocurrency exchange, for example, buy Bitcoin (or another cryptocurrency), wait for a more profitable rate, and make money on the volatility of the cost of the token by selling an asset.

For the whole process, only the user’s personal data and access to the Internet are needed! Blockchain makes access to the world of finance easier.

Gender or Racial Inequality, Lower Wages for Immigrants: Can Blockchain and Anonymity Be the Way?

Women and men in the same positions and for the same work receive different compensation. It is a known fact for already a very long time. Despite the modern world is already moving away from the concept of “a man is a breadwinner, a woman is a housewife,” this fact still takes place.

Likewise, around the world, indigenous people in countries receive higher salaries than immigrants, making living abroad less attractive for many.

How can blockchain solve this problem? With the help of cryptocurrencies!

Today there are many in-demand professions online, therefore, for online work you can receive payment in cryptocurrencies. An important point – for this you only need to specify your wallet address (set of characters), and not your personal passport data, which makes the recipient anonymous, therefore, reduces social inequality.

Blockchain and charity

To expand fundraising opportunities, a number of charities and foundations have been accepting donations in bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies directly from donors for several years now. There are even some social-projects with their own tokens, the money from the purchase of which goes entirely to the charity of a particular environment (depending on the asset).

One of the key pros of blockchain charity is transparency. Since the information about transactions stored in the blocks of the network cannot be changed, then you can be 100% sure that the money will go where it was donated.

The list goes on for a very long time, and hopefully, the issue of social inequality will completely die out in the next few years. Everything is in our hands – the world is becoming more conscious!

Author bio 

Name: Mary Ann Callahan

As an expert on Bitcoin-related topics, I’ve found myself as a Journalist at CEX.IO – cryptocurrency exchange. I’m working on articles related to blockchain security, bitcoin purchase guides or bitcoin regulations in different countries.