People Don’t Actually Want Equality, They Want Fairness

Re:People Don’t Actually Want Equality, They Want Fairness by ajb on Sunday September 10, 2017 @06:50AM (#15211666)

Equality of wealth is too strong a condition, but when you start to think about it, equality of opportunity is actually a pretty weak one. Of course, it would be good to have - I don't disagree with that. But one of the things the principal of equality is supposed to rule out is slavery. Suppose everyone is given the same education up to age 12, was then required to take an exam , with the top 1% becoming owners of the other 99%. That would still be equality of opportunity - but I think you'd agree that wouldn't be real equality.

What I think people mean by equality is that it should not be possible for an individual or group to obtain some overbearing degree of dominance over another individual or group. So that even if there is a disparity in wealth, there should still be a sense in which you are dealing with each other as equals.

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Re:People Don’t Actually Want Equality, They Want Fairness by jakelazaroff on Sunday September 10, 2017 @10:53AM (#15212435)

> What I think people mean by equality is that it should not be possible for an individual or group to obtain some overbearing degree of dominance over another individual or group.

I think this is the crux of the issue, and money most often is just the most relevant and quantifiable measure of that.

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Re:People Don’t Actually Want Equality, They Want Fairness by platz on Sunday September 10, 2017 @01:13PM (#15213144)

Rawl's "Veil of Ignorance" allows for _some_ inequality, but only as much as you would allow being born into if you didn't know where in the world you'd be born.

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