Social Climbers Painting

This painting looks at wealth inequality and its consequences. Rising wealth inequality has concentrated the riches of our society in the hands of a small number of individuals. Economic percentiles that rank wealth ownership now appear to define different tribes, or even species, who live in different worlds, and having totally different perceptions of the society we all inhabit. While politicians still talk about the desirability of social mobility, society is highly stratified, and since the 1980s ‘getting ahead’ has looked more like an aggressive, Darwinian, ‘zero sum game than a desire for fulfilment of dreams of a better life. A system that rewards so much to so few, but leaves the rest to struggle will always generate anger and resentment as it has done so often in the past, and it is no coincidence that we are in a time of such political and social turmoil.