"Poverty has declined over the past 25 years to 900 million people, but inequality between social groups has increased and is expected to grow, putting peace in danger," or so argued Stefano Zamagni, professor at the University of Bologna and Johns Hopkins University in Bologna (Italy), and member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Professor Zamagni gave the III ICS Lecture on Humanities and Social Sciences at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra.

Professor Zamagni explained that the distance between social groups is increasingly widening with an example: "35 years ago in any given American company, the average difference between wage earnings at the top and bottom was 1 to 100, but today it is 1 to 700. In Spain, it is around 1 to 300 or 400."

"Inequality is more dangerous than poverty", he stated and continued, "It is difficult for the poor in the strict sense to start a war, but those who suffer inequality, even if they are not poor by definition, may resort to violence against a society unable to redistribute wealth fairly."

In the European case, he stressed that inequalities have been largely offset by the welfare state, but, in his opinion, "it is economically unsustainable" and politicians "should think about future generations rather than in the next elections." He added, "The crisis of the welfare state has grown and it is closely connected with violence and the rejection of refugees and immigrants."

With regard to the mass arrival of these two groups, he reminded the audience that it is "more important than in the past" because the problem is connected with political and religious factors, not just with economic and labor issues." Syrians are not poor: they come to Europe because their homes are destroyed and, in some African countries, Catholics are fleeing because they are persecuted for their faith."

According to Professor Zamagni, solutions must not come from individual nations, but rather from Europe as a whole: "Each State thinks of itself in isolation from the whole, which will only increase inequalities and violence."

2016 World Happiness Report

In addition, he referred to the 2016 World Happiness Report, presented last week at the United Nations, which reveals that the happiest countries in the world are Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway. Professor Zagmani noted that these results do not coincide with other data, such as the high rates of suicides and divorces that occur in these countries, while in the Mediterranean nations, which occupy much lower-ranking positions, there are figures showing more overall life satisfaction.

"The problem is that the indicators on which the study is based were drafted by Anglo-Saxons, who have a very utilitarian perspective. But if we recover an Aristotelian approach, which sees happiness as an activity consistent with virtue, we can conclude that money is not necessary to achieve it.

In this sense, he recalled a study from the 1970s that revealed that as per capita income increases so does happiness, but only to a point: $22,000. "When that figure increases, happiness is not just stagnant, it decreases," he concluded.