A report from People's Daily says that the increasing income disparity has caused a sense of deprivation, unfair competition and helplessness in front of power, which altogether constitute a sense of weakness in society.

Social unfairness is a psychological disease the whole society is suffering from.

For instance, why do so many people participate in the national civil servant exam every year? Do they really love exams? No. It's because ordinary people can only enjoy the benefits of the social system by becoming a civil servant.

Actually, in a fair and just society, there should be no difference between staying inside and outside of the system, as long as it ensures people's interest.

And the sense of weakness is not limited to disadvantaged groups like migrant workers. White-collar workers, university teachers, and others all share this feeling.

The shared feeling of weakness is actually based on the lack of a bottom line of humanity, a basic decency that should run through every aspect of political and social life.

Only when life is in accordance with this basic decency could people feel happy. And when it is ignored or forgotten, a feeling of weakness will spread across society.

Therefore, to gain social fairness, we should let the operation of society return to a basic decency. Only in this way can the public will be reflected. Otherwise, the disease will spread and finally hurt the whole of society.

This article was first published in Chinese in West China Metropolis Daily.

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