EQUALITY VS EQUITY
What’s the Difference?
in our Constitution. The battle has been waged with increasing success every year. But now, we hear a demand for equity. What’s the difference?
The Definitions
Equality - the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.
Equity - the quality of being fair and impartial.
However, now, the word equity has been expanded to mean “recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. The process is ongoing, requiring us to identify and overcome ...” This sounds good until you realize that this means assuring equality of outcome.
The Problem
While we should be treated equally, we aren’t born with equal abilities or talents. Our society already strives and continues to improve on assuring equality of opportunity, though our public schools could do a lot better. Local control would make a huge difference there. But our talents are what they are. A child born with dwarfism cannot aspire to be a basketball hero. A blind child will never be a surgeon. And though I love to sing, I wouldn’t even achieve success as a failure on American Idol. My voice is acceptable, but not exceptional.
Great books have been written to describe a society where anyone can be anything because we lower the standards. That’s not a great way to go. Do you want to see people like Yao Ming face off against Steph Curry in all-star basketball? Or would it be equally fun to watch people with a variety of skills and height compete? We want the best—that’s why the Olympics have such a great, worldwide following. As the saying goes, “you can’t fix stupid,” nor can you repair a tin ear, give out grace, or push someone to Cirque de Soleil flexibility?
The Reality
No one can guarantee equality of outcome for every person. Consider some examples. You have two co-workers, one of whom spends extra hours delving deeper into her field and putting in overtime as needed. The other goofs off when they can, never striving for improvement. At the end of the day, who should get a raise? Be promoted? Would you like a society where no matter what you do, you cannot work to improve your life unless those who don’t work get the exact same benefits you do for your hard work?
Who decides what outcomes matter? I remember a case (and I expect this is not the only one) where a mother had her son in the Oakland school system. Working long hours as a maid, as she had almost no education, she dreamed of her son doing so much better than she did. Tears filled her eyes on the day of his high school graduation. The next day, he applied to the military, looking forward to his future and a chance to go to college. Only, he failed the test. He could barely read or write, yet the Oakland school system graduated him. This child had been given the chosen outcome – a diploma – but not the real, rigorous education he and his mother wanted.
Is the outcome wealth? Where does the money come from? The only option is to take it from those who work hard, but what incentive do you have to put in the effort only to see those who do nothing benefit equally. As those who demand “equity” don’t care about you or me, they will demand outcomes of their choosing, ignoring the effort those outcomes took to achieve.
In a school, they tried an experiment. After each test, the scores would be averaged and each student would receive the average grade. “Equality of outcome,” right? Each test, the average went down, as the hardworking students stopped putting in the effort. If they couldn’t strive to get an “A,” they saw no point in the work.
Our Future
We can forget the next new thing, the next incredible creation, the next innovative drug if we take away the incentive to strive, to grow, to innovate. China had a few five-year plans where they tried to take away competition and create equal outcomes. It cost them dearly and probably incentivized them to the intellectual property theft they’ve engaged in since.
We must return to a code of equality, not equity, to ensure not only that every person has a chance. We also need to ensure that every person has a reason to work hard and achieve their goals. Only then can they enjoy the happiness of knowing they have made it for themselves.\
“Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is in the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.” --Zig Ziglar
