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PART I

Some Ethical Aspects of the

Inequality of Incomes.

PART I

CHAPTER I

ECONOMIC CONTRASTS AND THE MODERN SPIRIT

§1. "The problem of poverty poverty" is an economic commonplace. On its existence and importance, though not upon its solution, all thoughtful persons are agreed.

The word "poverty," as commonly used, implies a contrast. It signifies a failure, through insufficiency of income, to reach a certain standard of economic welfare. This standard may be either a standard which is in fact reached by certain communities, or sections of communities, or a standard which, it is thought, should be reached, if life, from an economic point of view, is to be worth living.

Thus, on the one hand, we speak of the poverty of the inhabitants of India, as compared with those of Great Britain, or of the worst paid workers in Great Britain, as compared with the working classes in general, or of the working classes in general as compared with "the rich"; or, on the other hand, we speak of the poverty of certain sections of the population, as compared with a standard which is held to be "reasonable," or with a standard measured by the purchasing power of a “living wage," however defined.

Further, it accords with common knowledge and common usage to say that, in almost all modern communities, there exists great poverty side by side with

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