"Equality/Inequality? - Focus on Mobility"

 

There was an item on Reuters last week, published by the New York Daily News, that shows the irony and complexity of our nation. Its headline read: “Trump is only living President whose family didn’t own slaves.” That does not mean he is a descendant of angels, only that his ancestors came to this country after the Civil War. Each of us descends from thousands of ancestors, and the ancient sages of Athens argued that we all descend from slaves and kings. We all have ancestors who have been good people and bad people. We are wiser to focus on our own habits, not worry about the past, and to try to positively influence those of our children and grandchildren.

 

Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.bllogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“Equality/Inequality? – Focus on Mobility”

July 3, 2023

 

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

                                                                                                                Animal Farm, 1945

                                                                                                                George Orwell (1903-1950)

 

Of all the canards foisted on the American public, one of the lamest is the assertion that outcomes should be equal. Equality of outcomes (something that can never be) should not be confused with the fact that we are all, as Lincoln said at Gettysburg in 1863, created equal (something that we are) – equal in the eyes of God and equal under the laws of the United States, or at least we all have been since the 14^th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Equality of outcomes should also not be confused with the idea that we should all have equal opportunities to succeed in our chosen fields, something we do not have. There are other false tales told the American public: that the Earth will self-destruct if we do not reduce fossil fuel consumption, or the assertion that one’s sex is a social construct, that fairness requires the forgiveness of student loans, and the demeaning implication that affirmative action is necessary for Blacks to achieve parity with whites. 

 

George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published in August 1945, while the Soviet Union was still a World War II ally. It was written as an allegory on how the inequalities of Tsarist Russia became replicated in the inequalities of Stalin’s Communist Soviet Union. In the 1930s and through the early 1950s, many intelligent people responded to the siren call of the “Communist utopian state.” However, the promise of state-directed equal outcomes was a lie. In fact, wealth inequality worsened. In 1900, Russian per capita GDP was roughly 30% of the United States’. Under Putin’s Russia, a hundred and twenty years later, Russian per capita GDP had shrunk to about 17% of that in the U.S. In spite of that discrepancy (or perhaps because of it), Putin is considered to be the richest world leader, with a net worth of $200 billion

 

Here at home, the promise of equal outcomes is, of course, a political ruse, meant to detract from promises unfulfilled. Merit has been subsumed by calls for diversity. While we are all, as the Declaration of Independence states, endowed by our Creator “with certain unalienable rights,” people have never been equal; they are not now, and they never will be. We are unique individuals. Some are tall, others short. Some are artistic, others athletic, and still others musical. Some have a talent for liberal arts; others for mathematics. Some are intellectually brilliant; others must study to keep up. Some are born wealthy; others are born poor. Some are born to two-parent households, others to single mothers. Some are born in small towns, while others are born in cities or suburbs. A few have the benefit of private schools; most rely on public schools. A few are born with physical, mental, or emotional challenges; others live charmed lives. Some are aspirant, others content to be followers. Yet, we are equal under the law. As citizens, we have equal rights to vote. As humans, we should expect to be treated with equal measures of respect and dignity.

 

But we are not equal when it comes to talents or personal goals. After earlier promising equality to all animals, Napoleon (the pig, not the French Emperor) told the other animals: “…some animals are more equal than others.” While Napoleon’s words justified his claim that only pigs had the right to rule, they exposed a truth of the real world: The horse is swifter than the pig; the hen lays eggs and the sheep provides wool, while the pig wallows in mud. What is true for Orwell’s animals is true for man. Universities, businesses, and government bureaucracies should require a merit-based system. It is how they can best compete. How would the New York Knicks or the Yankees fare if management demanded a balance of racial, religious and gender diversity? If in for surgery, do you care what nationality, religion, race, or gender is the doctor who will operate, or do you care about his or her abilities? In every society, there are a limited number of elites. That will never change. 

 

But in a free, fluid, and democratic society, and critical to our survivability and success, elites should be able to rise from obscurity, which leads to the question of equal opportunities. The real world tells us that opportunities are not equal – like children of single parents and those born into poverty. But we can work to mitigate the differences and, therefore, improve opportunities for all. Education is key; however, sadly, our public schools are failing our children, and school choice is being fought by teachers’ unions and the politicians they support. The key for any aspirant young person is access to economic and social ladders. And it is education that best provides the means to climb those ladders. And it is in education where we have failed the talented and aspirant, especially in inner cities.    

 

In May, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that 8^th grade U.S. history test scores hit an all-time low – just 13% of eighth graders met proficiency standards. Only 20% of students scored at or above proficiency levels in civics. Scores in math and reading declined by nine and four points respectively. The decline in the math score was the largest ever for this NAEP assessment. For the lowest-performing students, according to The Wall Street Journal, “math scores were the worst since the 1970s, and reading scores were lower than the first data collection in 1971.” Apart from Luxembourg, the United States spends more per student on education than any other country, yet the most recent PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) ranks the U.S. 13^th in reading and 36^th in math, out of 79 countries. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported last year that absenteeism remains high, and behavior has worsened, particularly in the nation’s cities’ schools.

 

In my opinion, the fault lies with teachers’ unions – not with teachers, but with their unions’ leaders. Their interests are for themselves – not teachers and certainly not students. According to a report by Frederick Hess in the June 12 issue of National Review, between 2000 and 2019 student enrollment grew by 5 percent while the number of teachers grew by 9 percent. But the ranks of principals and assistant principals increased by 37 percent and that of district administrative staff expanded by 88 percent. Real per pupil spending rose 16 percent between 2012 and 2022, yet inflation-adjusted teacher pay fell 4 percent.

 

People are not equal – that is a given – but we are equal in our basic rights, and we should strive to be equal in opportunities for self-improvement. Education is the key. School choice is available to the wealthy; it should be available to all. Charter schools, vouchers for private or parochial schools, home schooling are all options. Yet they are opposed by leaders of teachers’ unions whose goal is to increase membership, and by politicians who support the unions and promise equal outcomes. A focus on gender studies, the promotion of grievances from a false interpretation of our nation’s history, and the division of people into racial and religious castes have detracted from studies of the basics – reading, writing and arithmetic. Lost has been the goal of youths’ achieving personal success. Give them the tools to move up the ladder.