If I had to label inequality simply as a negative thing or a positive thing, I would say that it was a negative thing for society. This doesn’t mean that I don’t think that people or situations have benefited from inequality, but I think that in our society’s history inequality has caused more harm than good. I think that in a way inequality can motive people, but I also think that people would be motivated without inequality. Certain people are always going to work harder than others or choose different paths in life which may lead to them earning more money or having more resources, but minority groups inequality will still impact their life. This is known as equity.
We have seen in our history in America that some people have access to more resources than others putting them at an advantage. We see this in a lot of business corporations, ect. as many men hold the high power positions more often than women. Only due to their gender it can make moving up in a business or company more difficult, this is known as the Glass Ceiling Effect. In our history in America, the government and people in power have put minority races in places of hardship through discrimination and lack of resources simply because of their race.
This is what makes inequality bad as people can be treated better or worse in society or have more or less opportunities due to factors that they can’t change such as their race, gender, sexuality or religion. For this reason, I would say that inequality isn’t inevitable, but is a result of the way we organize and have organized society through the laws and policies that have been implemented. I think that the first step in reaching a more equal society is to bring a common understanding that inequality exists and there are discriminatory practices that made things the way they were. I think that still today there is a lot of denial that racism, sexism and homophobia even exist in America and until we can come to a mutual understanding of these issues and make change happen and allow people to have equal access to resources and opportunism, equality will never exist.
