> Inequality is as old as dirt Yes > unfortunately No. Perfect equality means that nobody can excel in anything, anywhere and any time. With perfect equality

> Inequality is as old as dirt Yes > unfortunately No. Perfect equality means that nobody can excel in anything, anywhere and any time. With perfect equality comes stagnation. If you happen to know Rush' song "The Trees" you'll know what I'm talking about: Now there's no more oak oppression For they passed a noble law And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, axe, and saw It is not so much inequality which can be a problem but the fact that the lower bounds can be too low for an acceptable quality of life. As long as the lower bounds are high enough - above the "poverty line" - there can be inequality without that being a problem in and of itself. Another thing which can be a problem is the reason for there being inequality, e.g. when some rule or custom creates artificial limits for some people but not for others ("discrimination"). For a society to thrive you want people to make the best of their possibilities and to use their capabilities to the fullest extent. With that you automatically get inequality because not everyone has the same possibilities and capabilities, e.g. a farmer on a rock-infested piece of glacial detritus will not be able to produce bumper crops even if he is at least as capable as the farmer in the river delta who can not leave his wooden shoes outside without them sprouting roots and growing leaves. On that same river delta a capable farmer will be able to more reliably produce good crops than one who has never heard of crop rotation. If you take the most productive developer in your company and provide him with a fully equipped tool shop he will not be able to produce as good a widget as would the most experienced mechanic who in his turn would not be as productive a developer. Both can do their best to reach their local optimum but the developer will most likely see that result in higher earnings than the mechanic will. Inequality is not a problem. Equity - forced equality as personified by the "they" in the lyrics to "The Trees" - is a problem.