Rich or poor - inequality is bad for both

There's something utterly heartbreaking about the death of  Kings College student David Gaynor. But why does this tragedy strike so deep - because he was clearly such a fabulous young man? because I briefly met his parents 20 years ago? because I have a son rapidly approaching adolescence?

In her column in the NZ Herald, Deborah Hill Cone, said his death showed that - rich or poor - growing up is tough. But I think she misses the point.

Both rich and poor lose out when we live in a society that is becoming increasingly unequal. It's a point that gets made the book, The Spirit Level - all sorts of health measures are worse in unequal countries, for both rich and poor.

For the poor, it's obvious, you're the bottom of the heap, get fewer opportunities, fewer resources. It's less obvious for the rich - but the statistics bear it out. If you're at the top of the heap in a rich society, your health will on average be worse than if you're the top of a flatter heap (ie a more equal country). Apparently it's to do with the pressures of competition - if you're at the top of the heap in a tall heap, you know how far you can fall, your parents know how fragile that grip at the top can be, you are also less likely to benefit from the social glue that comes in a supportive society.

There seemed to be a bit of that going on in the coverage of the King's students - all that emphasis on achievement and success (at whatever price). And it matches up with other research that shows that competitive, high-stakes type education systems create fragile learners - and perhaps also fragile students.

Somehow it's the pictures of those girls from those upmarket Auckland colleges that does it for me - the ones of those girls before the fatal ball. Those young women all start to look they same - nearly all of them are some version of blonde with such carefully applied make-up, their smiles seem about to crack.

When will the right-wingers get the point - calling for equality is not about 'the politics of envy', it's about a society where we're all better off, and not just in financial terms.