The Equality Paradox: Enforced Outcome vs. Equal Opportunity
From the Guillotine to the American Dream
When talking about equality it’s important to distinguish between equality of outcome and equality of opportunity.
We’ve already witnessed the equality of outcome experiment in the classlessness of the former the Soviet Union and Mao Zedong’s Chinese revolution. Its echos continue in North Korea.
Government policies can shuffle wealth and resources but is unable to shuffle elements of inequality that are more qualitative, such as the distribution of talent or personal preference within a populace.
Equality of outcome, therefore, requires enforcement, often manifesting as killing for equality. Consider the application of the guillotine during the French revolution’s reign of terror for example.
On the other hand, the American dream is an ongoing equality of opportunity experiment. People with varied structural starting conditions and personal preferences have a historically unprecedented path for upward socioeconomic mobility. This is a revolutionary way to structure society.
As the great social experiment that is the American dream continues to unfold, remember there are no guarantees it works indefinitely.
