RE: No One Actually Wants an Equal Society
March 6, 2017 at 4:46 am
(This post was last modified: March 6, 2017 at 4:54 am by Thumpalumpacus.)
(March 6, 2017 at 4:06 am)InquiringMind Wrote: I have an idea. Why has inequality in society (wealth, race, gender, etc.) stubbornly persisted in spite of many decades of efforts to alleviate it? Why has the discussion of privilege only intensified after much work to create equality? Here's idea:
No one actually wants an equal society.
How could you be rich if everyone had the same amount of money? How could you have the best job if all jobs were equally good? How could you be the best scientist if all scientists were equally good? How could you have an especially attractive mate if all people were equally attractive? If all posts on facebook were equally good, then why would it matter which ones you looked at?
In an equal society, there is never any chance to "get ahead" because everyone is equal. There is no such thing as "greatness" because everyone is equally good. No one wants this. Everyone wants the chance to "get ahead." Everyone wants a chance to climb to the top of the pyramid, to be a hero, and to be respected and admired above their peers.
No one wants equality. Every individual wants to live in a society where they, as an individual, are at they top of the social pyramid. People want high status, not equality.
What are your thoughts?
People want equality of opportunity.
(March 6, 2017 at 4:37 am)InquiringMind Wrote:(March 6, 2017 at 4:16 am)Alex K Wrote: No but seriously, there's a difference between equal chances/opportunities and everyone being identical.
I don't think that people even want equality of opportunity. I think most people would overwhelmingly prefer to be born into privilege. Why do you think that Disney princess movies and the British monarchy are so wildly popular? Why do so many people dream of winning the lottery? Because people want privilege, not equality. Especially if those privileges came from a windfall, like being born into royalty or winning the lottery.
No one wants an equal society. People would much prefer to have special privileges.
Well, the lottery is exactly equality of opportunity. Rich or poor, you draws your numbers and you come up empty.
Most poor people I know, and I know quite a few, don't peg their hopes on the lottery. They rather hope for an even chance, despite their broken teeth (can't afford dental insurance!), being stuck in a laborious job despite an aging body (because health care is bloody expensive too), wish they could afford college but cannot, and so on.
You come at it from the angle of the favored, but in my experience, the disfavored don't want a handout, they just want an honest chance in a rigged system.
