> So what does one do if you wish to have a level floor?

Let me offer you a different metaphor about levels :-) In Greek mythology, there was a character named Procrustes. He had an iron bed of a certain size, to which he strapped his captives, and if they happened to be taller than the bed was long, he cut off their legs to fit the bed; whereas if they were shorter, he stretched them to fit the bed tearing their sinews and muscles. That's what I think of when I hear about arbitrary levels applied to living people.

I appreciate your analogy and I will politely remind you that in American history, members of certain classes did indeed have limbs cut off or their body parts stretched for arbitrary reasons.

In fact, this practice only really ended in the 1960s; controversially, one might even say that this practice continues to today.

So what do we do when confronted with an anecdote from antiquity versus system inequities from our modern era?

> So what do we do when confronted with an anecdote from antiquity versus system inequities from our modern era?

I guess, in the spirit of the analogy, your options are to either stop cutting off body parts from anyone, or to start cutting them off those who look like people who engaged in body cutting two or more generations ago. DEI prefers the second option. Some people would rather see the first.

I imagine that there are lessons in antiquity where a famous Greek or Roman thinker chooses a pragmatic option instead of a spiteful or absolutist option.

I really like your phrasing:

problems that are not our fault but are now our responsibility

That’s a very nice, concise way of summarizing the essence of the issue.