Both Europeans and those living throughout the world have witnessed an increased sense of inequality. Many people have become a great deal richer and less reliant on state resources and aid since 1970 while many more have become poorer or increasingly reliant on state assistance. There is an increased sense of global inequality as well–between rich and poor countries, the well–fed and the hungry, and those with longer-life expectancies and those with much shorter ones. The middle class and upper classes have benefited from the embracing of the free market since 1970s, leveraging investments, education and personal contacts for economic gain. Those without these resources continued to struggle. Both countries and individuals experience greater difficulty in achieving economic mobility and the the location and class of ones’ birth increasingly dictates the rest of their life. This sense of inequality and Americanization helped create a backlash of anti-globalization, terrorism and increased religiosity. The only thing certain is that change will continue.