I have two more thoughts on this.
If we could create a society that had full equal opportunity for everyone in every way, do you think people would finally stop complaining that they were being treated unfairly? Would people finally attribute their failures to their own shortcomings instead of to a system that is rigged against them? Would financially unsuccessful people concede that maybe they weren't as talented and hardworking and lucky as those who were successful? Would students who got poor grades in a class finally stop complaining that the tests were unfair? Would the losers of sports games finally stop complaining about "bad calls" by the referees?
I think not. I think that it's natural for people to blame things outside themselves for their failures. It's much easier to blame a personal defeat on a rigged system or an unfair game than to take an honest look at one's own objective performance, talent, and contribution. Even when the system is fully fair - as in athletic competition or games of chance like gambling - losers will still tend to believe that they are being treated unfairly.
And another thought. In a society of equality of result, like a Marxist society, there would still be gradations in status. A university professor will enjoy more status that a janitor, even if they are paid the same salary. Even in a society of equal financial distribution, status is still distributed unequally.
If we could create a society that had full equal opportunity for everyone in every way, do you think people would finally stop complaining that they were being treated unfairly? Would people finally attribute their failures to their own shortcomings instead of to a system that is rigged against them? Would financially unsuccessful people concede that maybe they weren't as talented and hardworking and lucky as those who were successful? Would students who got poor grades in a class finally stop complaining that the tests were unfair? Would the losers of sports games finally stop complaining about "bad calls" by the referees?
I think not. I think that it's natural for people to blame things outside themselves for their failures. It's much easier to blame a personal defeat on a rigged system or an unfair game than to take an honest look at one's own objective performance, talent, and contribution. Even when the system is fully fair - as in athletic competition or games of chance like gambling - losers will still tend to believe that they are being treated unfairly.
And another thought. In a society of equality of result, like a Marxist society, there would still be gradations in status. A university professor will enjoy more status that a janitor, even if they are paid the same salary. Even in a society of equal financial distribution, status is still distributed unequally.
