This really gives some insight into the leftist mindset. We do realize it is not intended to be a nuanced position on equality vs. sameness. But we can analyze it for what it does say and for what it assumes.
This is what we shall do.
First, we need to note that the topic is not about status, it is about treatment; that is, how do we ("we" always means government) treat people. For this meme, "treatment" is a function of government, not how people should treat each other. It's all about the amount stuff government gives people.
The side labeled "same treatment" means everyone gets one box from government. None of the people are standing on the ground, they all get something, the same thing, from government.
The point of the picture is "same treatment" does not yield "equality," which means government needs to change (redistribute) the number of boxes each person gets.
So the side labeled "equality" takes away the tall man's box and gives it to the short woman. The tall man apparently doesn't need any help at all, but the short woman needs more help. So government makes things "equal." Everyone gets the same result, as opposed to receiving the same government beneficence.
By this measure, different treatment is justified. The tall man is privileged, so government is justified in taking his box and giving it to another it deems more worthy.
But as we mentioned, everyone started with a government box. No one was standing on the ground. But this isn't actually what is happening. What actually happens is that everyone should be shown as standing on the ground ("same treatment"), and then in order to make things equal ("equality") the tall man should be shown with his legs cut off and the short woman should be shown standing on the tall man's legs.
We aren't really talking about reshuffling the stuff government gives us. No, it is about reshuffling what people own and produce by penalizing people who own and produce more.
This is a twisted view of equality. We would therefore suggest that "equality" is not everyone ending up the same. People do not deserve the same results. Differing results is the natural process of possessing differing abilities. Brain surgeons provide a rare and specialized skill set, and most likely will obtain a better result than a ditch digger. This is quite proper.
People aren't the same as far as their life outcomes, work ethic, training, and intelligence. Therefore, no one should expect the same outcomes. That is unreasonable.
Wealth redistribution is unreasonable.
Yup, the irony is that the liberal notion of equality is actually rooted in an intolerance of diversity.
ReplyDeleteYou're confusing equality with equity. The left is equality. The right is equity.
ReplyDeleteEquity: "In its broadest sense, equity is fairness."
ReplyDeleteEquality: "A state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in certain respects, including civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights and equal access to certain social goods and services."
So you have yours reversed. The Left is consumed with fairness (equality of result), and the Right wants equality (Sameness of opportunity).