WRITING AN ESSAY: Social Outbreak in Chile: Causes and Consequences

Social Outbreak in Chile: Causes and Consequences

Paragraph 1: Introduction. (3 sentences)

On October 18, 2020 there was an "outbreak" of subversion due to the 30-peso increase in public passage transport, this produced a series of protests that aimed to transform neolbieral society and the entire heritage of the dictatorship, in this In this essay we are going to present a series of elements that can help us understand the causes and consequences of that revolt, under the thesis that inequality is the key to understanding this phenomenon.

Chile is one of the most unequal countries in the world, as shown by different rankings such as the GINI, this has generated a general malaise due to the lack of opportunities and social mobility, Sociology has studied this for years and has generated a set of intellectual production on the impact that socioeconomic inequality has on the difficulty of access for different generations.

An example of this is the reality of old age in Chile, where the AFP (individual capitalization) system has profoundly deteriorated old age in Chile and the country has become one of the worst in this stage of life. In addition, this was one of the main demands of the 2020 social movement. The root of this individual capitalization system is the economic policy of Chile during the military dictatorship where José Piñera, brother of the current president, formulated this system that has largely allowed to invest wealth in the companies of the largest fortunes in Chile and another part in the world stock market.

A series of policies of this court were implemented during the dictatorship, which produced wealth but accompanied by deep inequality that generated years of discontent where a kind of "pressure cooker" was generated that exploded in October 2020, after a series of previous social movements.

Finally, I believe that this event opens up infinite opportunities for Chile, in the line of moving towards a fairer country and sociology will be key in this task, generating intellectual work to think about the new Chile and the new society that we are building.