Equity vs Equal Opportunity

[Woodznutz]

Let's break this equity concept down into more concrete and simpler terms.

I am 5'4" tall, walk with a cane most times when I'm out and about, 15 to 30 minutes on the treadmill is about all I can do these days. And, I am getting up there in years. But at times my limited retirement income is more restrictive than I like. It would be very nice to be able to afford what say a pro basketball player can afford.

In the name of equity should the NBA be required to let me try out? Offer me a contract? Pay me what a NBA player is paid? They wouldn't have to actually let me play of course and I really wouldn't want to.

But conversely, say I am at that median net worth mentioned in Post #10, should the NBA players be required to play for what I receive in income every year? Of course those now receiving less would be given more to raise them up to my level.

And then we all--NBA players, doctors, lawyers, congress persons, teachers, maids, homeless people, car manufacturers, test pilots, soldiers, students, apprentices, retirees, migrants, EVERYBODY--would have the same income. True equity.

Fair no?

(On the bright side, it might discourage a lot of the migrants from coming here. )

The 800-pound question in the room that remains unasked is: Why don't people do better financially?

 

[Foxfyre]

The 800-pound question in the room that remains unasked is: Why don't people do better financially?

Some do not have the intellect, skill set, ability, aptitude, creativity, imagination, risk taking temperament, courage to try and try again, personal ambition/drive, work ethic etc. that others have. As I illustrated in my former post, I have never had and never will have the ability to play in the NBA and therefore earn what a NBA player earns.

I may have had the ability to come up with a concept and the will to implement it that would have made me a gazillionaire. But I didn't. But that I never did is not the NBA players fault, nor should he be punished nor should I be rewarded because I will never earn what he earns.

 

[Foxfyre]

There is apparently also not a huge advantage for those inheriting a fortune or winning the lottery or otherwise becoming suddenly wealthy. Statistics show that seven out of ten who do will become poor again because they do not have the intellect or skill or will to properly manage that money.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-90-of-rich-people-squander-their-fortunes-2017-04-23

 

[Woodznutz]

Some do not have the intellect, skill set, ability, aptitude, creativity, imagination, risk taking temperament, courage to try and try again, personal ambition/drive, work ethic etc. that others have. As I illustrated in my former post, I have never had and never will have the ability to play in the NBA and therefore earn what a NBA player earns.

I may have had the ability to come up with a concept and the will to implement it that would have made me a gazillionaire. But I didn't. But that I never did is not the NBA players fault, nor should he be punished nor should I be rewarded because I will never earn what he earns.

I wanted to make the point that it is often simpler than that. Just one or two bad habits can lead one to financial ruin i.e. drinking and smoking, gambling, even travelling. It's been said that wealth building is more about how much you save and invest, not how much you earn. You can become wealthy working a low-skill, low-paying job if you manage your life correctly.

 

[Foxfyre]

I wanted to make the point that it is more often simpler than that. Just one or two bad habits can lead one to financial ruin i.e. drinking and smoking, gambling, even travelling. It's been said that wealth building is more about how much you save and invest, not how much you earn. You can become wealthy working a low-skill, low-paying job if you manage your life correctly.

True. And then there are those who inadvertently come up with a brilliant idea that morphs into a multi-billion dollar industry. Think Jeff Bezos and Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta (Facebook), Steve Jobs and Apple, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Elon Musk and PayPal that soon provided seed money for his ventures into other businesses, Tesla and Space X.

Should they be punished for their financial success? Or admired for being innovative and creative and ultimately providing markets and jobs for thousands and thousands of people?

 

[Woodznutz]

True. And then there are those who inadvertently come up with a brilliant idea that morphs into a multi-billion dollar industry. Think Jeff Bezos and Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta (Facebook), Steve Jobs and Apple, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Elon Musk and PayPal that soon provided seed money for his ventures into other businesses, Tesla and Space X.

Should they be punished for their financial success? Or admired for being innovative and creative and ultimately providing markets and jobs for thousands and thousands of people?

I couldn't live without Amazon. I don't care how rich Jeff Bezos gets.

 

[Foxfyre]

I couldn't live without Amazon. I don't care how rich Jeff Bezos gets.

I think Amazon single handedly kept thousands of small businesses in business during the Pandemic by allowing them to advertise and sell through Amazon. Whatever 'sins' Bezos may have committed, he did a very wonderful thing there.

 

[IDIOCRACY]

Setting aside the campaign and election for a moment, let's look at what Kamala's goal of equity for all could mean for all Americans and most likely non citizens as well.

Kamala says we should of course have equality, but more importantly we should have equity. We don't all start out in the same place, i.e. some start on first base and some start on third base, but we should all wind up in the same place. She has made that point several times now. And she looks to government to make it happen whether it is achieved via tax codes or various other legislation or disaster relief distribution.

NOTE: please focus on the policy and not what you think of Kamala personally.

So what does that mean? Should we all be held on first base? Or all advance to third base before anybody is allowed to go for home?

Elon Musk says, perhaps jokingly or perhaps not, that he wants to be the world's first trillionaire. The vast majority of us will never be able to claim millionaire status let alone billionaire or trillionaire. Is it wrong that Elon Musk is the richest man in the world? Is it wrong that nine of the ten richest people on the planet are Americans? That a large majority of millionaires in the world are American?

Is that because Americans are more greedy, more ruthless? Or it is something in the American concept of personal liberty, protected rights, equal opportunity for all coupled with regulated capitalism and free trade that allows Americans to be more wealthy than most other people on Earth?

But equity for all, by Kamala's definition, means some must become much richer and others must become much poorer. Everyone should have the same income, expenses, housing, transportation etc. regardless of their knowhow, expertise, contribution to society as a whole, aptitude, attitude, work ethic etc.

I have my own ideas about what that would actually look like and why it would make us all much worse off than we are now. Obviously we all cannot build and sell Teslas but theoretically, equity would mean that the one who does will not profit more than the guy who just works at whatever when he feels like it.

So where are you in this debate? Do you agree that fairness requires equity for all, i.e. we all wind up in the same place on the economic scale? Or do you go with the concept that some will earn/deserve/merit more than others? Or are you somewhere in the middle?

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Equity means a pile of shit the Democrats run on.

Equality means a pile of shit the Democrats run on.