--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We should also remember that punishment…" description: "\"“We should also remember that punishment and inequality are intimately linked—that the causality runs in both directions. Disparities in punishment ref..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/david-cay-johnston-10155_quote_we-should-also-remember-that-punishment_1807620.jpg" --- # We should also remember that punishment and inequality are… ![“We should also remember that punishment and inequality are intimately linked—that the causality runs in both directions. Disparities in punishment reflect socioeconomic inequalities, but they also help produce and reinforce them.” quote by David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/david-cay-johnston-10155_quote_we-should-also-remember-that-punishment_1807620.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/david-cay-johnston-10155_quote_we-should-also-remember-that-punishment_1807620.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/david-cay-johnston-10155_quote_we-should-also-remember-that-punishment_1807620.jpg) > ““We should also remember that punishment and inequality are intimately linked—that the causality runs in both directions. Disparities in punishment reflect socioeconomic inequalities, but they also help produce and reinforce them.”” [David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cay-johnston/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Punishment and socioeconomic inequality reinforce each other, creating a cycle of disadvantage. **In simple terms:** Punishment and inequality feed each other. Key Takeaway Address systemic roots of crime. Themes justice inequality policy Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical policy When to use this quote - criminal sentencing - public policy - community programs Key Concepts structural bias recidivism social determinants Questions to Reflect On - How can policies break the cycle? - What role does community play? A Different Perspective Reform may face political resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disparities Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disparities-punishment-2086023/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [Inequality Intimately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality-intimately-2086025/) [Punishment Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment-inequality-2086022/) [Socioeconomic Inequalities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socioeconomic-inequalities-2086026/) ## Related quotes > [“In early 2014, the Department of Justice and Education issued guidelines pressuring public school districts to adopt racial quotas when disciplining children. The basis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-bernstein/in-early-2014-the-department-of-justice-and-education-issued/) [David E. 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Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-c-pelosi/) > ['Inequality' has become the political theme/slogan of our time in both Europe and the U.S., yet political leaders do not even bother to consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-singer/inequality-has-become-the-political-theme-slogan-of-our-time-in-both/) [Paul Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-singer/) > [It clearly follows that to make men moral it is necessary to make their social environment moral. And that can be done in only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/it-clearly-follows-that-to-make-men-moral-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [Inequality is pervasive but invisible. It's hard to see. You need a sort of tool to make it visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hito-steyerl/inequality-is-pervasive-but-invisible-it-s-hard-to-see-you-need-a/) [Hito Steyerl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hito-steyerl/) > [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) ## More by David Cay Johnston > [“Wage insurance works best when all workers are covered under the same plan and the coverage starts at the beginning of their working lives.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cay-johnston/wage-insurance-works-best-when-all-workers-are-covered-under-the-same/) [David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cay-johnston/) > [“Pope Francis I, denouncing “an economy of exclusion,” has made inequality a centerpiece of his reign: Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cay-johnston/pope-francis-i-denouncing-an-economy-of-exclusion-has-made-inequality/) [David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cay-johnston/) > [“We have created a society in which all the nation’s economic gains flow to the top and the vast majority sees income stagnation or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cay-johnston/we-have-created-a-society-in-which-all-the-nation-s-economic-gains/) [David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cay-johnston/) > [Congress is supposed to fund the IRS, and it has been steadily reducing the number of auditors and tax collectors the IRS has at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cay-johnston/congress-is-supposed-to-fund-the-irs-and-it-has-been-steadily/) [David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cay-johnston/) > [“By 2012 the average income of the vast majority had shrunk to the equivalent of 45 weeks of 1973 income—a 13 percent decline to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cay-johnston/by-2012-the-average-income-of-the-vast-majority-had-shrunk-to-the/) [David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cay-johnston/) > [“No person, I think, ever saw a herd of buffalo, of which a few were fat and the great majority lean. 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So if you have a one-time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cay-johnston/you-as-a-wage-earner-have-to-pay-your-taxes-every-year-on-your-income/) [David Cay Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cay-johnston/) > [“Social Security gives concrete expression to widely held and time-honored American commitments. 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Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-c-pelosi/) > [Yeah, maybe that's the way to solve the gender inequality that's naturally in relationships: to have a lot more power in the woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-song/yeah-maybe-that-s-the-way-to-solve-the-gender-inequality-that-s/) [Celine Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-song/) > [“In no country does the average income give the right picture of how people live but in a country with higher inequality it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ha-joon-chang/in-no-country-does-the-average-income-give-the-right-picture-of-how/) [Ha-Joon Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ha-joon-chang/) > [Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/any-city-however-small-is-in-fact-divided-into-two-one-the-city-of/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [I made an effort to ensure social safeguards. 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Communism is exploitation of the strong by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/communism-is-inequality-but-not-as-property-is-property-is/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) [Browse all 1,442 Inequality quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We should also remember that punishment and inequality are intimately linked—that the causality runs in both directions. 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