How to tolerate inequality
This is the overview article of the series on toleration, equality and redistribution. Here you can see which articles have been published in this series.
We feel uneasy with inequality. Unequal distribution often feels unfair. In small groups, one should not try: that will lead to arguments. Jealousy can also play a role, and sincere compassion for those who get the short end of the stick.
At the same time, we as people are all born differently and the circumstances in which we grow up can be incomparable. One person gets opportunities that another does not even dare to dream about. And groups of adults can also really get in the way of other groups, with prejudice, exclusion and discrimination.
So there is tension between our aversion to inequality on the one hand, and on the other hand the natural course of events, which leads to inequality. To deal with this tension, various models have emerged over time, which seek the middle ground between complete meritocracy and complete collectivism:
Meritocracy with (limited) redistribution of outcomes.
Redistribution based on equal opportunities.
Redistribution based on equal outcomes.
In this series, I will present you with the pros and cons of redistribution. In doing so, I gradually sort out the middle way that I consider best, and even our moral duty: sufficient redistribution.
The dung fly and the fairy godmother
We are going to talk about equality, a concept with all kinds of different meanings. In what sense are all people equal? Does everyone deserve the same treatment? What does fair sharing actually mean? These types of questions are addressed in this article.
The guilty white man and the black victim
An anthropology professor who states that white Europeans are by definition racist, even if they don't think so, because white people have a so-called 'cultural archive' in their heads. That archive contains four hundred years of colonial thinking, which assumes that white is superior to black. No matter how hard you try, you will never lose that archive.
Be careful with redistribution
Previously, I wrote that differences in wealth arise naturally. One person has more talent, diligence or luck than another, or a rich dad. When differences in prosperity arise, there will always be a call for redistribution. The strongest shoulders carry the heaviest burdens
We can’t give everyone an equal opportunity
People are not equal, we can't change that, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, the fact that one person becomes poorer or richer than the other, or has more opportunities, makes some people feel more uncomfortable. But as differences accumulate over generations, a class society can emerge. That is bad, because of the risk of exploitation and hopeless poverty, and because people from the underclass are more or less determined at birth that they cannot develop themselves, regardless of their talents and efforts.
Everyone must have enough to live on
You may have noticed that in the past episodes I have been working towards a conclusion: