WEALTH disparity has been ever-present in capitalism. However, in recent decades the concentration of wealth in the UK has reached unprecedented levels, with a small minority of individuals hoarding fortunes unreachable to the average person. The sheer scale of wealth controlled by these individuals is difficult to comprehend and this comes as no accident. Wealth inequality is deliberately obscured and normalised through media influence, an intentionally regressive education system and psychological factors that limit people’s ability to conceptualise large numbers.

If we examine these factors we analyse how wealth disparity is normalised in the UK, why the public is often slow to recognise the implications of extreme inequality and why there is a significant lack of class consciousness in the working class.

The Challenge of Conceptualising the Wealth Gap

Humans naturally struggle to grasp large numbers, which is further pronounced when attempting to understand wealth figures in the millions or billions. Cognitive science has long established that while the human brain can easily interpret small numbers, larger ones become abstract and difficult to fully comprehend (Woods, 2019). Research shows that visual aids and analogies are essential for understanding sums like a billion, as the average person lacks an intuitive sense of its true size (Wood and Savage, 2020).

If we provide context, one billion days is approximately 2.74 million years, this would place us back in the time when early human ancestors like Homo erectus were alive. Furthermore, to understand the size of one million, if we did the same calculations as above, this would be approximately 2739 years ago, placing us during the early Iron Age with thriving ancient civilisations like Assyria, Egypt and early Greece, around 715 BCE.

Using comparisons that can be easily understood can help people understand the true size of the numbers often presented when talking about wealth, they show that not only is one billion an unfathomably high number but one million is also a huge sum, this understanding has been lost due to the pursuit of ever-increasing growth from the capitalist class. These perspectives on the wealth gap are rarely reported or discussed within the UK media, instead, context is left out when reporting on wealth accumulation deliberately leaving the true scale of wealth disparity severely underestimated.

Media Control of the Narrative in the UK

In the UK the media’s role in shaping public perception of wealth remains significant despite the emergence of social media in the last 10-15 years, and ownership patterns of the media corporations in the UK highlight the influence of the wealthy elite. A report by the Media Reform Coalition (2020) highlights that just three companies control nearly 90% of the UK’s national newspaper circulation, and individuals such as Rupert Murdoch exert significant control over news narratives (Media Reform Coalition, 2020).

When there is such a concentration of elitist ownership, stories presented to the public will reflect the interests of the wealthy elite. When billionaires and multimillionaires are presented as success stories or philanthropists, this is to downplay or disguise the exploitative nature that underpins their fortunes.

This narrative creates the perception that hard work is rewarded through wealth accumulation, shaping how the public views billionaires and millionaires, this emphasis on personal achievement helps to shift the attention away from structural factors that allow wealth concentration.

The media shifts perception purposefully reducing the likelihood that the public will view mass wealth accumulation as a deliberately created flaw within the system. In the UK, due to the media’s ties with wealthy owners, the reporting on tax-avoidance practices is often buried and they oppose increases in regulations and taxes on high-income individuals (Freedman, 2019), often presented to the public as an extra tax burden on every individual within the UK using language such as “the British taxpayer”, despite those measures only impacting the wealthiest.

The Education System and Class Consciousness

If you look at the UK education system, it plays a role in normalising wealth inequality and capitalist endeavours. From primary school to higher education, the virtues of capitalism and the free market are built within the national curriculum in most, if not all subjects. In recent years, anti-capitalist material has been outlined as unacceptable. This means that wealth inequality, class consciousness and economic disparity are almost entirely absent.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that discussions of economic inequality and class are rarely included in educational materials, contributing to a lack of awareness among young people about the structures that support wealth inequality (IPPR, 2018). This lack of understanding of class dynamics means that students are less likely the question the distribution of wealth and power, as well as failing to link the fundamental issues, such as wealth inequality, as being the fault of capitalism.

As these students become adults, they are more likely to view mass wealth concentration as an individual achievement rather than a systemic issue. The absence of a critical thought process and discussion on these topics leaves generations at the mercy of the status quo and without the tools to challenge it, reinforcing the environment where wealth inequality is viewed as natural.

Psychological Impact of Wealth Normalisation

The normalising of vast wealth accumulation has a huge psychological impact on the population's perception of inequality. Psychologists at University College London (UCL) conducted a study that revealed that individuals often have a “just-world” belief, leading them to assume that people’s circumstances are fair and deserved, regardless of inherent inequalities (Jost et al., 2018). This shows a cognitive bias that allows many people to accept the existence of billionaires as the product of hard work or merit, even though it is structural factors that allow wealth accumulation for a minority.

Furthermore, the difficulty of processing large numbers creates further distance between people and the real impact of wealth disparity. The emotional weight behind terms like “million” and “billion” is lost when they are consistently presented without context, meaning they become mere statistics rather than indicators of social inequality. In the UK this is exacerbated where wealth is presented as less problematic due to the tradition of inherited wealth of the upper classes and their pursuit to accumulate more, this has historically been viewed with a degree of acceptance and even reverence (Atkinson, 2019).

Implications for Class Consciousness in the UK

In recent years, there has been a significant decline in class awareness within the working class and grassroots movements. This has been detrimental to labour movements and social reforms, as class consciousness has historically been an important factor for them. When media ownership is concentrated amongst the wealthy elite and an education system deliberately designed to reinforce pro-capitalist narratives and demonise anything that opposes it, class consciousness has weakened significantly.

The lack of solidarity among the working and middle classes in opposing the interests of the wealthy elite has allowed wealth concentration to continue largely unchecked (Dorling, 2020). This weakening of class solidarity has significant implications for political influence, according to research by the London School of Economics, the wealthiest in the UK have a greater impact on policy-making than the working and middle classes, often exerting influence through lobbying and donations (LSE, 2020).

Due to the lack of class unity and solidarity, the public lacks the organisation to sufficiently challenge the status quo, as well as the motivation after decades of policies designed to move more wealth into the hands of the capitalist class. This means that the wealthiest continue to shape policy without any real opposition.

Conclusion

The normalisation of extreme wealth and the downplaying of economic inequality inherent within the system are the result of influences from the capitalist class through media, education, and psychological conditioning. The use of selective narratives, and active manipulation of educational discourse to exclude class consciousness and cognitive biases, shape the public perception to support a capitalist society where vast wealth is seen as natural and acceptable.

The capitalist class have class consciousness and actively uses their fundamental understanding to help dismantle opposition to their system of exploitation to maintain and even expand their positions of wealth and power for generations to come. Recognising and opposing these influences are essential steps towards revitalising class consciousness amongst the working and middle classes, this will be vital in challenging the deeply entrenched capitalist system, designed to reinforce inequality and exploitation, from the grassroots.

References

Atkinson, A. (2019) Inequality: What Can Be Done? Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Dorling, D. (2020) A Better Politics: How Government Can Make Us Happier. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Freedman, D. (2019) The Contradictions of Media Power. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Institute for Public Policy Research (2018) The Divide: Inequality in the UK. London: IPPR.

Jost, J., Banaji, M. and Nosek, B. (2018) ‘A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Self, Group, and System Defense’, British Journal of Social Psychology, 57(3), pp. 563–590.

London School of Economics (2020) ‘Political Influence of Wealth in the UK’.