People can be discriminated against on the basis of
sex
(sexism),
so-called
race (racism),
age
(agism),
physical
ability or
disability (ableism), and/or
socioeconomic
status (divitism).
Divitism
is a serious problem. Here are some examples:
The
law is supposed to treat everyone
equally. But people with more money have
access to better lawyers.
An
extreme case of a legal problem is
the death penalty, which today is almost exclusively applied to people
with little money (more).
People on death row in any country are typically poor.
Unemployment
offices don't treat the unemployed very kindly.
They are sometimes expected to accept jobs they don't want or lose
their
benefit. If they accept a job that doesn't pay very well they might
still lose their benefit. Their privacy is often invaded. People who
are
lucky enough to have more money don't have to put up with that.
Income
tax is usually progressive: the more you earn, the more tax you pay in
proportion to your income. That applies to people with full-time jobs,
but what about part-time or casual work? Those on unemployment benefit
lose the benefit when they earn relatively small amounts of money. When
they work a bit harder, they don't get more money. Everyone else does!
That's divitism, and it motivates people to stay on benefits instead of
working part-time. The problem can be solved by combining unconditional
basic income with flat income tax (BIFT).
In
the US, racism and divitism are closely
linked. African Americans generally have less money than the majority.
They simultaneously suffer from two kinds of discrimination.
There
are also everyday and seemingly
innocent cases of discrimination. You
are unlikely to be invited to a posh ball if you aren't rich or
beautiful.
All
these points are cases of divitism or socioeconomic discrimination.
Clearly, divitism is a big deal. It should be taken more
seriously. It helps to have a word for it.
Divitism
comes from the Latin word for wealth.
Just as sexism is discrimination on the basis of
sex, and racism
is discrimination on the basis of "race", divitism is discrimination on
the basis of wealth.
In 2025, the Oxford English Dictionary defined divitism as
"the condition of
being rich". But the dictionary also admitted that no-one is using the
word in this way, which makes a new definition possible.
The opinions expressed on
this page are the
author's personal
opinions. Readers who know and care about this topic are asked to
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improving or extending the content:
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