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This right here is the sinister truth about conversations like this -- though clothed in the holy robe of "equality", you're not looking for equality of opportu

This right here is the sinister truth about conversations like this -- though clothed in the holy robe of "equality", you're not looking for equality of opportunity, you're looking for equality of outcome. It shocks me truly because we see the reality every single day. Two people, same job title, same responsibilities, same home life situation, and one far outperforms the other. The outperformer gets the bigger bonus, the bigger raise, and the promotion. Factored out 10 years, the outperformer ends up far "richer" than the other guy, and the other guy calls it inequality. Yes, inequality happens. Yes, some people get a big head start. Yes, some people can tap family connections. But look around you, and I guarantee you'll observe my scenario 1,000,000 times before you observe your scenario once.

yen223 14y ago
This right here is the sinister truth about conversations like this -- though clothed in the holy robe of "equality", you're not looking for equality of opportunity, you're looking for equality of outcome. I'm not sure where you get that idea from. The purpose of my thought experiment is to show that outcome is inextricably tied to opportunity. That guy who received $10,000,000, he's going to have a lot of opportunities. He gets to buy himself an education; he gets to invest in businesses that won't pay out for a few years, without having to worry about where his next meal will come from. He gets to treat minor ailments, before they fester into something more serious. Too many people assume that the outcome is only dependent on effort alone. Too many people like to think that a person is destitute only because he is lazy, not because he didn't have any of the opportunities offered to those of us who grew up in a well-off environment. In a perfect world, your financial outcome will be tied only to the amount of effort you put in. I'm trying to point out that the real world is hardly perfect.
rayiner 14y ago
1,000,000?! Anyone born into an upper middle class family, whose parents paid for college, tutoring, etc, has a $100k or more head start over someone born into a bottom 40% family. These aren't 1 in a million people. Maybe 1 in 10.
scarmig 14y ago
General statement, not making any presumptions about what you personally believe: One of the great ironies is that many people who think that what you're born with have no correlation with how your life will turn out are also the same people who think that an inheritance tax is a socialistic imposition that unjustly punishes rich parents from helping out their kids.

yen223 14y ago

This right here is the sinister truth about conversations like this -- though clothed in the holy robe of "equality", you're not looking for equality of opportunity, you're looking for equality of outcome. I'm not sure where you get that idea from. The purpose of my thought experiment is to show that outcome is inextricably tied to opportunity. That guy who received $10,000,000, he's going to have a lot of opportunities. He gets to buy himself an education; he gets to invest in businesses that won't pay out for a few years, without having to worry about where his next meal will come from. He gets to treat minor ailments, before they fester into something more serious. Too many people assume that the outcome is only dependent on effort alone. Too many people like to think that a person is destitute only because he is lazy, not because he didn't have any of the opportunities offered to those of us who grew up in a well-off environment. In a perfect world, your financial outcome will be tied only to the amount of effort you put in. I'm trying to point out that the real world is hardly perfect.

rayiner 14y ago

1,000,000?! Anyone born into an upper middle class family, whose parents paid for college, tutoring, etc, has a $100k or more head start over someone born into a bottom 40% family. These aren't 1 in a million people. Maybe 1 in 10.

scarmig 14y ago

General statement, not making any presumptions about what you personally believe: One of the great ironies is that many people who think that what you're born with have no correlation with how your life will turn out are also the same people who think that an inheritance tax is a socialistic imposition that unjustly punishes rich parents from helping out their kids.