Systemic Inequality – Adam Tugwell

Most people can feel that something in Britain isn’t working anymore. Life feels harder, more stressful, more insecure. People are tired, worried, and stretched thin. But when they try to explain why, the answers they’re given never quite fit.

We’re told the country is divided – north vs south, young vs old, graduates vs non‑graduates, public sector vs private sector. But none of these really explain what people are living through.

The truth is simpler, and more uncomfortable:

Britain is already split into two groups – those the system works for, and those it doesn’t.

And most people don’t realise which side they’re actually on.

Why the Real Divide Is Hard to See

The divide isn’t obvious because it’s not about what people look like.

It’s not about identity, background, or culture.

It’s not even about politics.

It’s about security.

Some people have it.

Most people don’t.

And the gap between the two groups is growing.

But because everyone mixes together – at work, in shops, on the school run – it’s easy to assume we’re all living the same kind of life.

We’re not.

Why People Argue About the Wrong Things

A lot of public debate focuses on visible differences – race, gender, culture, lifestyle, opinions.

These topics stir emotion, so they dominate the headlines. But they distract from the thing that shapes people’s lives far more than any identity label:

Money.

Not in a greedy sense – in a survival sense.

Money decides:

whether you sleep at night
whether you can cope with a shock
whether you can plan for the future
whether you feel safe
whether you feel judged
whether you feel like you’re failing

And because money is the value system society runs on, it quietly sorts people into two groups long before anyone realises it’s happening.

The System Only Works by Squeezing People

Here’s the part nobody likes to say out loud:

The system can only make some people wealthy by making everyone else poorer.

That doesn’t mean rich people are bad.

It means the system is built in a way that pushes pressure downward.

Prices rise.

Wages don’t.

Bills go up.

Security goes down.

People work harder.

Life gets tighter.

And the people at the bottom feel it first.

But the pressure doesn’t stop there – it moves upward, squeezing each layer in turn.

Why People Who Look “Fine” Still Feel Terrified

This is where the misunderstanding happens.

Take small business owners.

They often look like they’re doing okay.

But many are barely holding things together.

So when someone says, “The minimum wage isn’t enough to live on,” they don’t think about the worker who can’t pay rent. They think:

“If wages go up, I’ll go under.”

That reaction isn’t selfish.

It’s fear.

They feel the threat immediately and emotionally because they know how close they are to the edge. And that fear blinds them to the reality that millions of people have already been pushed over it.

This is the uncomfortable truth:

Everyone’s problems are connected.

Everyone is being squeezed – just at different stages.

Why So Many People Are Struggling Even When They Work

Most people on benefits are working.

They’re doing everything society told them to do.

But the numbers simply don’t add up.

The minimum wage doesn’t cover the cost of living.

Rent, food, transport, energy – everything costs more than people earn.

So people end up relying on:

benefits
debt
charity
family support
or going without

And instead of asking why the system produces this outcome, society blames the people trapped in it.

They’re judged.

They’re shamed.

They’re treated as if they’ve failed.

But they haven’t failed.

The system has.

The Myth That Keeps People Blaming Themselves

We’re told that life works like this:

Get qualifications → get a career → earn money → build a life → be happy

But this only works for some people.

Many are vocational, not academic.

Many never had the stability to study.

Many grew up in chaos, poverty, or caring roles.

Many simply weren’t given the same chances.

Yet the system values what can be measured – certificates, grades, titles – not the real skills people have.

So whole groups of people get left behind, not because they lack ability, but because they lack paperwork.

And then they’re told it’s their fault.

Why Mental Health Is Collapsing

When you live in a system where:

you can’t keep up
you can’t get ahead
you can’t rest
you can’t plan
you can’t afford a mistake
you can’t escape judgement

…it breaks something inside you.

People think they’re failing personally.

But they’re not.

They’re living in a system that demands more than human beings can give.

That’s why anxiety, depression, burnout, and hopelessness are everywhere.

It’s not an epidemic of weakness.

It’s an epidemic of pressure.

The Future People Fear Is Already Here

A lot of people worry about a future where technology creates a world for the “haves” and leaves the “have‑nots” behind.

But the truth is:

That divide already exists.

AI didn’t create it.

Automation didn’t create it.

The system did.

Technology will widen the gap – but it won’t start it.

And here’s the twist:

The people who think they’re safe – the professionals, the knowledge workers, the middle layers – may soon find themselves on the wrong side of the divide they never noticed.

Not because they changed.

But because the system did.

So What Is the Real Divide?

It’s not left vs right.

It’s not identity vs identity.

It’s not culture vs culture.

The real divide is:

Those the system protects

and

Those the system exposes.

Some people have security.

Most people don’t.

And the line between the two is moving fast.

Why We Need to See It

People suffer alone because they think their struggle is personal.

They think they’re the only ones falling behind.

They think everyone else is coping.

But the truth is:

Millions of people are living the same story.

The only difference is where they are on the slope.

If we don’t see the real divide, we can’t fix it.

If we keep fighting over the wrong differences, the system will keep squeezing everyone.

Recognising the split isn’t about blame.

It’s about clarity.

It’s about dignity.

It’s about rebuilding a society where people can breathe again.

Because the split isn’t coming.

It’s already here.

And it affects far more people than they realise.

The Split in Britain PDF_Vers1_22May26 Download

The Renters Rights Act comes into force this week, and it is already generating criticism, concern and confusion among private landlords.

Many feel that the legislative balance has suddenly tipped against them, and that the rules of the game have been rewritten without any regard for the realities they face.

This reaction mirrors a wider pattern in recent years, where attempts to strengthen rights for one group – whether renters, employees or consumers – are framed as inherently virtuous, while the people on the other side of the equation are treated as if they can do no right.

It is a paradox at the heart of many progressive policy approaches: the assumption that giving more rights automatically creates fairness.

But the world we live in today simply doesn’t work that way.

Rights Without Responsibility Don’t Work in a System Already Under Strain

People – whether renters, employees or anyone else – are being conditioned by government, business and the digital environment to believe that their individual rights are absolute. In practice, this has contributed to a culture where respect for others, their property, their time and even their basic boundaries is eroding.

When rights are expanded in a system that is already dysfunctional, they are not always used responsibly. Some people will inevitably abuse them. And when that happens in the private rental sector, the consequences fall not only on landlords but also on the growing number of people who depend on renting to live.

The early signs are already visible. The Act introduces new financial, legal and management burdens that many landlords neither want nor can afford to absorb.

For some, the risk will simply outweigh the reward. For others, the administrative load will be too much.

The result is predictable: fewer rental properties, higher costs, and more pressure on a system that is already stretched.

This Isn’t About Siding With Landlords – It’s About the System They Operate In

It’s worth stressing that the point here isn’t to take the side of landlords, but to highlight the flaws in the system that shapes everyone’s behaviour.

Housing is a basic human need. In a people-centric world, that alone would rule out the idea of property being used for profit – whether by large‑scale landlords with vast portfolios or by individuals who treat buy‑to‑let as an investment strategy. Both contribute to the same outcome: higher living costs and reduced access to secure housing.

But we do not live in that people centric world. We live in a system that is fundamentally money‑centric and profit‑driven at every level.

For decades, policy, business and culture have been shaped around extraction – taking value from the many to concentrate wealth among the few.

As this dynamic has intensified, those at the bottom of the wealth pyramid have become increasingly dependent on the very structures that make life more expensive.

Within such a system, any attempt to “fix” one part of the problem in isolation inevitably creates new problems elsewhere. The Renters Rights Act is simply the latest example.

Short-Term Politics Cannot Solve Long-Term Structural Problems

Politicians today face societal problems so deep and interconnected that they cannot meaningfully address them without challenging the system that created them. But that system is the very one that keeps them in power. So instead, they resort to short-term, surface-level policy changes – measures that sound compassionate, fair or decisive, but which do little to address the underlying issues.

Housing is a perfect illustration of this contradiction. The commodification of homes – and treating them as assets rather than essential shelter – has become normalised.

The rise of second homes for those who can afford them, despite nobody needing more than one home to meet their basic needs, is a symptom of the same problem. It contributes directly to the housing crisis, yet it is rarely confronted honestly.

Every part of the crisis ultimately traces back to the same root cause: a system built on perpetual growth, profit extraction and the prioritisation of financial value over human need.

The Real Problem Isn’t Landlords or Renters – It’s the System Itself

The Renters Rights Act may have been introduced with good intentions. But in a system as structurally flawed as ours, well‑intentioned fixes often create more harm than good. When the foundations are broken, adjusting the furniture doesn’t make the house safer.

Until we confront the deeper economic and cultural forces that shape housing – and everything else – we will continue to see policies that shift problems around rather than solve them. And each shift will leave more people struggling, more frustrated, and more convinced that someone else is to blame.

The truth is simpler, and harder: the system is the problem. And until that changes, every attempt to fix it will only expose how entrenched the problems have become.

The Renters Rights Act PDF_Vers1_28Apr26 Download