Equity: How it will Destroy Us

How Equity will Destroy Our Society by Changing Our Social Contract

It is hard to miss, it is in our work, in our entertainment and most alarming it has leaked into our children’s education, the woke agenda has permeated all aspects of our lives. At the forefront of this new woke agenda is the concept of equity.

When the concept of equity came to the forefront you may have been like me and assumed that equity was a close cousin to equality. I am not sure if it is because they sound the same or because they look relatively the same when reading them, but for me when I read equity my mind jumped to equality. Who wouldn’t be for equality? A concept where everyone is given equal opportunity to all aspects of our society. Whether or not you are like me and the words equity and equality are closely tied in your mind know in reality, the two concepts in practice are sworn enemies.

EQUALITY VS EQUITY

Equality is the goal that as Americans we attempt to achieve, it tells us that everyone legally has the same rights to pursue whatever opportunities that they desire. While in the United States we have had a history of not living up to the standards of equality i.e. Slavery, since the Civil Rights Movement, legal barriers have been removed and we have successfully accomplished equality of opportunity under the law.

Equity however has much more sinister motives. The people that are pushing for equity will not come out and say it directly, but equity is essentially equality of outcome. While we should all believe that everyone should have the legal right and access to opportunities (equality of opportunity). We do not all believe that everyone should be guaranteed the same outcome (equality of outcome) which is what equity strives to do.

Below is an image used to graphically represent equality vs equity. The graphic makes it look like equity is a fairer way to treat people. Why would we not want everyone to see the game? Why would we not want everyone to have the assistance they need so that the outcome is the same? In this simplistic instance that may be true, but in reality, the only way in which we achieve equity is through coercion, and with coercion is the minimization of freedom.

Picture sourced from Removing systemic barriers in education - The UDL Project

We all have different talents and skills, not everyone is going to be equal in the outcome unless people are coerced. Take the picture out of this context and put it into a real-life situation. What if this was a basketball game and those people represented the players? How would we get to equity? We would either have to handicap the largest player or we would have to give great advantages to the smallest. Is that fair? Is it fair to tread on people’s abilities to ensure that someone that does not have the same abilities finishes in the same spot?

Another way to look at this graphic is to visualize the smallest person having a college degree, the middle person graduating from high school and the largest person being a high school dropout. Now who has the advantage? Who has greater access to the job market and the keys to a better life? While the tallest person still has a better ability to see the baseball game, they have a lesser ability to earn an income. How do we make equity happen in this scenario? The reality is we take from the top and give to the bottom to make the outcome the same.

Sound familiar? Are these not the tenants of Communism? Does this not precisely give us the world that Karl Marx talked about in his quote: “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” In reality, equity tramples on people’s freedoms, the only true path to equity is coercion and with coercion freedom disappears.

CONTRACT THEORY

Contract Theory is a philosophy of fairness that has been written about by author John Rawls in his seminal work A Theory of Justice. In that work Rawls discusses the theory of justice as fairness within the limits of a contractual obligation. One of the main takeaways from his writing on this is the theory that for there to be fairness in society we must all agree to a general set of principles on how society should work, or in essence a contract on what we agree upon.

It is safe to say that all Americans, minus some of the most hardcore racists, accept the principle of equality as part of our social contract. Equity however is not part of our social contract; it is not something that is agreed upon by all parties within society. Rawls acknowledged that not all will be equal in the end, equity, but he did comment on the fairness of all having the equality of opportunity, equality.

It is an important part of the fabric of our society that we all agree on some basic principles of what is and is not fair, it is the tie that bind us. While people will differ in all areas of thought from different religions that we practice to different political ideologies, we are bound together by the idea of equality.

The problem with the equity push is that they are attempting to change that contract without informing us. In our workplaces the push has been through programs such as DIE (Diversity, Inclusion and Equity). By dressing it up nicely and tying it together with other values that most support, they are attempting to change our social contract without our consent, and it seems at this time they are succeeding based on the general acceptance of equity.

WHERE DOES IT LEAD US?

Sadly, the momentum for the DIE programs in the workplace and the concept of equity in general seem unstoppable at this point. It is not because people readily accept the concept of equity, equality of outcome, it is because we are unaware that the social contract that we all agreed to is being changed.

I do not want my son growing up with equity as a part of the social contract. I want him to have every opportunity in the world to do what he desires, like I want everyone regardless of race or religion to have the same opportunity. What I do not want is a world where the people are coerced into an equal outcome for all.

Hopefully, over time people will wake up to the reality of the harmful effect of equity in our society. The reality is that our workplaces are shoving DIE training down out throat and there are few that will have the courage to stand up when necessary. Is it worth your job to fight this? Is it worth the risk of losing your livelihood to stand against equity? Sadly, most will say no, most will not have the courage to stand up to oppose this destructive ideology.

While I agree that we do need to celebrate and educate ourselves on diversity and inclusion, we need to ensure that the E that we are celebrating is equality and not equity. Our social contract is built on the principle of equality, let us celebrate it, let us learn about it and most importantly, let us practice it in all aspects of our lives. Equality is what has made America the beacon of freedom in the world, let us continue that by embracing equality and rejecting equity.