We need a more equal society to fight Kenyans’ poor health

We live in a country where greed and materialism have eroded people’s sense of ethics and morality so much that university students — our future leaders — are willingly prostituting themselves to rich old men or conduct armed robberies so that they can enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.

In Kenya when you steal millions from public coffers, you are rewarded with votes and State protection, but if you steal a chicken you end up behind bars.

The high cost of living and corruption in the public service is eroding people’s purchasing power and testing their patience as everything, from obtaining an ID to getting a permit, costs a bribe or two. Bribery is now normal even in government departments that previously had a record of being relatively corruption-free.

The country has also become more polarised. Kenyans on social media spew hate speech as if some tribes are more entitled to live here than others. Instead of vilifying those who spread the hate, Kenyans protest when the hate mongers are arrested. We really are our own worst enemies.

All these things are happening in an environment of extreme inequality. CEOs have become used to earning one thousand or more times than the lowest paid workers in their companies. Parliamentarians see no immorality in awarding themselves some of the highest salaries in the world even as their constituents languish in back-breaking poverty.

In Nairobi we now have bars that serve cocktails that cost the equivalent of a domestic worker’s annual salary. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing as the salaries of the rich escalate while those of the poor stagnate.

Many Kenyans are emotionally and physically exhausted from this state of affairs. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Ministry of Health recently announced that one in four Kenyans, or more than 11 million people, are expected to develop some kind of mental illness in their lifetime. This is among the highest levels of mental illness in the world.

What could be behind this staggering figure? In a ground-breaking study published a few years ago, epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett found that levels of mental illness within a society were related to its level of inequality.

UNEQUAL SOCIETIES

In the Unites States, one of the most unequal societies in the world, a quarter of the population suffers from some form of mental illness, while in the more egalitarian Japan, less than 10 per cent do. Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands also have less income inequality and less prevalence of mental illnesses, perhaps because these countries invest more in social welfare programmes than others.

In their book, The Spirit Level, Wilkinson and Pickett show how highly unequal societies tend to produce narcissistic individuals — people who are excessively preoccupied with themselves and place a lot of importance on individual success.

The epidemiologists also found that in highly unequal countries people tended to be physically and psychologically unhealthy as well. Obesity, depression, and drug addiction are more common in unequal societies. In such societies, homicide and other criminal behaviour are also more prevalent.

Because unequal societies tend to produce more criminals, they create fearful societies that build gated communities and protect themselves with guns or security companies. People thus become more distrustful of one another and lose their sense of community, which increases anxiety levels.

The authors say that instead of curing mental illness through increased use of drugs and psychiatric services, countries should look at making their societies more equal through policies that reduce the income gap and that build people’s resilience.

Economic growth alone cannot deliver just, cooperative, and healthier societies. China’s cities, for example, have become unliveable due to high levels of air pollution because China decided that growth was more important than environmental protection.

In the United States, shootings in schools and other public places have become more common, perhaps because the attackers feel disconnected from their world. In Kenya, we are building high-rise apartments for the rich but not a single public park has been built since the colonialists left. We are building more roads, but not expanding pavements or bicycle paths. Motorists are spending more time in traffic than with their families at home.

So apart from being a highly unequal society, we are doomed to becoming an unhealthy and unhappy one as well.

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