Equal Opportunity

One of the most important values in our society is having equal opportunity under the law. Although, in practical terms, we have yet to reach this goal and probably never will, it is important that we always strive to reach for it. I don’t think this is a Democratic or Republican issue, but an American issue and more importantly an issue necessary to any humane society.

People are born different. This is not only beneficial to our society, but is a vital part of societal growth. Our differences allow us to bring many diverse backgrounds and perspectives into our society. We can take a look at the ideas for ourselves and decide which ideas we find are better than others. But, when we allow differences in birth, to dictate your opportunity, then we aren’t allowing a marketplace of merit, were deciding your chance to succeed at birth. Weather for financial reasons, mental handicap, physical handicap, racial, or any other reason, society should strive to give people equal opportunity to succeed.

This is in no way communistic or socialistic. These terms deal with the redistribution of wealth. Compare opportunity in life to opportunity to win a race. Equal opportunity means having an equal chance to compete in the race. Equal opportunity does not mean taking the rewards of the winners; it means that everyone should get a fair shot at the starting line. The question of how to redistribute wealth of the winners of the race, if at all, is a completely separate issue. A society based on merit means that everyone should have the opportunity to work their hardest and be the most creative that they can. Being on equal footing when the race begins ensures that the race will be based on merit, not on your starting position.

Its terribly naive not to acknowledge that someone growing up in a good area with lots of wealth and connections has the same opportunity as someone who grew up poor in the ghetto. This is not equal footing at the starting line.

If you don’t think that all people should be entitled to the same chances to succeed, then you believe in entitlement.

The very fabric of a democratic rights-based society is designed to eliminate as much entitlement as possible. Entitlement is the belief that birth alone, should dictate the opportunities that a person should have. I openly admit that it is impractical to eliminate all entitlement, but it is a necessary part of improving society to constantly try to decrease entitlement. Our moral conscious depends on a good faith effort.

A claim that entitlement is necessary and impractical to eliminate is simply wrong. We as a society were able to eliminate our feudal caste system, slavery, primogeniture (rights of the firstborn), different rights for property owners, and racial and sexual discrimination. We were able to ensure racial suffrage, women’s suffrage, and civil rights. Indeed our very break from England echoed to the note “that all men are created equal”. All of these causes were at one point considered impractical. But as a society we made a decision that we value the elimination of entitlement more than the status quo. We decided that the status quo isn’t good enough anymore and that we have the capability to do better. Since it is the government’s job to ensure its citizen’s rights and we decided that these rights should include less entitlement, then it is the government’s job to enforce these standards of fairness.

I am not arguing anything besides that equal opportunity is a worthy goal for society to value, regardless of politics. One can be for or against raising taxes, for or against affirmative action and still be staunch supporter of equal opportunity under the law. Your politics deal with the implementation and type of equal opportunity that you believe, not weather you believe in this concept. Society must have an interest in ensuring equal opportunity regardless of income, sex, race, or any other non merit based quality. If fairness means anything, it means one should be able to have a fair chance at the beginning of the race. If you disagree with this goal you believe that birth entitles you to a lifestyle, not your own merits. This strikes me as a particularly unjust and inhumane belief, not worthy of a society that values moral progress.