NationStates Jolt Archive

I know my personal answers to the questions below, but im interested to see what other peoples opinions on this are, as I have seen the word start cropping up more and more on the forums again. Feel free to pick one question and run with it or a mixture...

What is Equality?

Does Everyone deserve equality?
Why?
Are their situations in which you should lose you rights to 'Equality'
Is giving special spaces to the disabloed in car parks 'Equality'
Is giving poorer students money and grants to stay on in education 'Equality'
Is taxing different people different amounts 'Equality'

Edit: I have to go right now, but will be back in an hour or so...

In before "some animals are more equal than others".

Equality is ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to do everything.
And as a result is physically impossible.
I agree with the statement, everyone deserves it. This is because no one is any different to anyone else and no one, from the outset, is inferior to anyone else.

Whether you should ever lose your rights to equality. No, you shouldn't.
If you commit a crime, you should be treated equally with those who have commited the same crime.
If you have tons of money, you should be treated with as much importance as someone who has no money.
If you are a 'Celebrity' you should probably be shot, but failing that, you should be given as much fanfare and importance as a not so desperate/famous person.

Giving spaces to disabled people in car-parks, i suppose when you boil it down, is not strictly speaking equality. But that does not make it wrong. You are making it easier for them to park than an able bodied person and easier to gain access to whatever facility you are running. However if this were not the case. The disabled person would find it harder to gain access and therefore equality would not be applied either. Hence my earlier statement saying that equality can never be achieved.
Its easy to take a look and say that one thing cancels the other out and equality is therefore maintained, but to me thats just a nice human comfort morality instinct that kicks in so as not to challenge their values of right and wrong.
For the same argument, giving poorer students extra money and taxing different people different amounts is not equality either. But again, that does not mean its a bad thing.
Giving poorer students more money than rich ones is upsetting one equality issue to provide parity in a much more important one. Education.
Taxing high earners more is important because you cannot justify taking the same money off of a person living on the bread-line as someone who is living in a mansion house with 5 cars and a swimmingpool.
Someone has to pay for the world to function according to the standards set, and its not right that the poor who can't afford luxury have to foot the bill.
(cue arguements about workshy people getting off their a***s and working but i think we all know thats the most rediculous argument there is)

AMK

I know my personal answers to the questions below, but im interested to see what other peoples opinions on this are, as I have seen the word start cropping up more and more on the forums again. Feel free to pick one question and run with it or a mixture...

What is Equality?

Does Everyone deserve equality?
Why?
Are their situations in which you should lose you rights to 'Equality'
Is giving special spaces to the disabloed in car parks 'Equality'
Is giving poorer students money and grants to stay on in education 'Equality'
Is taxing different people different amounts 'Equality'

Edit: I have to go right now, but will be back in an hour or so...

Equality simply means we all have an equal right to life. It means that if you feel that you should be able to do as you will, then this must also be accorded to everybody else, that nobody has any inherent benift over others(besides that which they have activly worked for)

In before "some animals are more equal than others".
Meh. :p

I think there is a tendency in some sections of society to mistake equality with equivalence, and praise the former as a result. No two humans are equal, but every person is in some sense equivalent to every other. Empathy would have us acknowledge those we share our lives with as different in their own ways, with different needs, skills and ways of thinking, but just as important as ourselves and any other human being, and I reckon that's about right.

What is Equality?

Equality is to all people be bound and protected by the same set of laws, and for everyone to have the same opportunities in life. It doesn't necessarily mean that people are 'free'; just that nobody is any free'er than anyone else.

Does Everyone deserve equality? Why?

As laws are set by the government of a country, every citizen of that country deserves equality in front of them. This is because they are members of the society, and the country is responsible for their well-being, as well as those people are responsible for the country's well-being.

Non-citizens deserve some protection due to common decency, but I don't see the country being in any way responsible for them, so I don't see them being entitled to some benefits that citizen are, such as possible welfare.

Are their situations in which you should lose you rights to 'Equality'

Equality provides one with many rights and responsibilities, as defined by the law. If one abuses the rights or neglects the responsibilities by breaking the law, he doesn't deserve the same respect as a law-abiding citizen does. And in modern societies, they don't get it either; prisons limit people's rights very severely, and I don't have a problem with that.

Is giving special spaces to the disabloed in car parks 'Equality'

This isn't really a question of equality as much as it is one of practicality. Handicapped people need bigger spaces to get out of their cars, and have them closer to the destination of their travel so that they don't need to strain themselves too much. Healthy people can easily walk a bit further.

Now that I think of it, yes, it is equality.

Is giving poorer students money and grants to stay on in education 'Equality'

In order to have equality, it is imperative to provide practical possibilities for poor people to study. To have total equality on this issue, though, rich people should be paid the same amount. Clearly, that would be pointless and wasteful, so just giving money to the poor is good enough.

Is taxing different people different amounts 'Equality'

This isn't about how much you pay, it's about how much you can afford to pay. As long as nobody is impoverished by taxes, and high taxation doesn't take away the benefits of having a high-paying job, I'd say it is equality.