There’s a growing chorus of modern philosophers, activists, and academics who insist that Western civilization must be dismantled because of inequality. They look at billionaires, corporations, and rising living costs and conclude that the rich are oppressing the poor, that capitalism is inherently exploitative, and that the entire system is morally bankrupt.
It’s a compelling narrative — simple, emotional, and easy to rally around. But it’s also wrong. Not just slightly wrong. Fundamentally wrong. And the consequences of this misunderstanding are far more dangerous than most people realise.
The Myth: “The Rich Are Rich Because They Oppress the Poor”
This idea is everywhere — in universities, on social media, in activist circles. It’s the assumption behind almost every modern critique of inequality.
But here’s the reality:
In a free society, people become wealthy because millions voluntarily choose their product or service.
No one forces you to buy a smartphone. No one coerces you into streaming movies. No one threatens you into using a search engine, a ride‑share app, or a new piece of software.
People buy because they want to. Because it improves their lives.
That’s not oppression. That’s cooperation.
The modern philosopher who sees a billionaire and immediately imagines a villain is projecting a worldview that simply doesn’t match how wealth is created in a liberal democracy.
The Overlooked Fact: Poverty Is Not a Life Sentence
Critics love to talk about “the poor” as if they are a fixed, permanent class. But the data tells a different story.
In Western liberal democracies:
- most people who start poor do not stay poor
- most people move between income brackets throughout their lives
- immigrants often rise dramatically within one or two generations
- social mobility is real and measurable
This doesn’t mean the system is perfect. But it does mean the system works.
A society can have unequal outcomes and still be fair — if people have equal opportunity. And that’s exactly what Western civilization, at its best, provides.
The Biblical View: Equality of Worth, Not Equality of Wealth
Here’s where modern critics really get lost. They assume that equality means sameness — same income, same lifestyle, same outcomes. But that’s not what the Bible teaches, and it’s not what Western civilization was built on.
The Bible’s view of equality is simple and profound:
Every human being is made in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27)
That means:
- equal dignity
- equal moral worth
- equal accountability
- equal value before God
But Scripture never claims that everyone will have the same role, the same wealth, or the same social position.
In the Bible:
- there are rich and poor
- there are rulers and the ruled
- there are employers and employees
- there are landowners and labourers
The Bible condemns injustice, not inequality.
The Marxist Shadow Behind Modern Equality Debates
Let’s be blunt: the language of “oppression,” “power structures,” and “systemic inequality” didn’t come from nowhere. It’s Marxism — repackaged, rebranded, and smuggled into modern discourse.
Marx divided the world into oppressors and oppressed. And he insisted that the only solution was to tear down the system entirely.
Sound familiar?
The tragedy is that this worldview has already been tested — and the results were catastrophic.
The Soviet Union
- The Holodomor (1932–33): A man‑made famine caused by forced collectivization. Millions died.
- The Great Purge: Millions executed or imprisoned as “enemies of the people.”
- Economic collapse: Chronic shortages and stagnation.
Maoist China
- The Great Leap Forward: The deadliest famine in human history — 20 to 45 million deaths.
- The Cultural Revolution: A decade of ideological purges, imprisonment, torture, and killings.
- Economic paralysis: China remained impoverished until it abandoned pure communism.
These regimes didn’t just fail economically. They failed morally — on a scale that defies comprehension.
And here’s the punchline:
Both nations prospered only after abandoning pure Marxism and embracing market reforms.
The Empirical Truth: Commerce Lifts People Up
Across history, across cultures, across continents, one pattern is unmistakable:
A well‑regulated market economy is the most effective system ever created for lifting people out of poverty.
It’s not perfect. Nothing is. But it works.
It creates opportunity. It rewards innovation. It encourages merit. It allows mobility. It funds safety nets. It supports the vulnerable.
And it does all of this without coercion.
Modern critics see inequality and assume injustice. But they ignore the simple fact that prosperity requires freedom, and freedom requires accepting that people will make different choices and achieve different outcomes.
The Philosophers’ Mistake: Misunderstanding Equality Itself
The modern critique of Western civilization rests on a fundamental error:
They think equality means equal outcomes. The Bible teaches equality of worth. History shows equality of outcome leads to tyranny.
When philosophers demand the dismantling of Western civilization because of inequality, they’re attacking the wrong target.
The problem isn’t the system. The problem is their definition of equality.
Conclusion: Time to Rethink Inequality
Western civilization isn’t perfect. But it is the most successful attempt in human history to combine:
- equal dignity
- equal opportunity
- economic freedom
- moral responsibility
- compassion for the vulnerable
- the sacredness of human life
The philosophers who want to tear it down misunderstand both the Bible and economics. They confuse inequality with injustice. They misdiagnose the problem and prescribe the deadliest cure ever attempted.
The task before us is not to dismantle Western civilization. It’s to refine it — to strengthen the moral foundations that made it flourish in the first place.
