Do We Live in a Social Fair World?
What is a social fair world? Social equality is when all the members of a group of individuals share the same social status in all respects, including civil rights, rights to property, and all of the freedoms associated with the free world. Is this the state of affairs in the world today? If not, is this kind of society even possible to attain?
If you ask people if they think that the world is fair, you might get different answers. Even if you think that it does not exist, there is still racism in the world, and by that I mean everywhere in the world, not just in the United States. Even in western countries whose citizens like to believe that there are no racists in their ranks, there are varying degrees of inequality.
For instance, people would treat other people differently because of their skin color. In this regard, white people are not the only ones who are guilty. All races are racists in some regard. You can tell by how they form into social groups that are composed mainly of the same race. This might be a bit controversial, but everyone, regardless of skin color, can be a racist.
To live in a socially fair world, people need to treat each other as equals, regardless of religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or status in life. Only when people live in harmony will there be true social equality.
Can People be Truly Equal if Some Have More Material Worth than Others?
A person’s ability to accumulate wealth should not be a hindrance to whether or not people should be treated fairly. For instance, just because one person works at a minimum wage job, it does not necessarily mean that the owner of the company that employs him is any better.
In that sense, one should also not look at the richer man and think that he does not deserve his status in life. Just because someone is richer than you, it does not instantly mean that you should consider him the enemy. Everyone gets equal treatment.
Are we living in a socially fair world?
I think social fairness is not yet on a decent level. Are we going in the right direction towards it? Hopefully, we are because people are starting to realize that they are not so different after all. Racism can be completely eradicated, maybe, if given some time and people around the world are given the opportunity to know each other better.
What Does Social Fairness Mean?
Social fairness, also known as social justice, is a concept of fair and just relationships between the members of a group of people, and the relationship of an individual to the group itself. This encompasses many different aspects of society, including the distribution of wealth, career opportunities, and many more.
When trying to understand what social fairness means, it is crucial to learn about the four principles of social justice, namely:
- Access – This means that all members of the group have the same amount of access to basic services like healthcare, education, food and shelter, employment, and many others. In today’s society, only those from the upper classes have the means to afford better schools, private hospitals, etc. Those at the bottom have to settle for less (although one can argue that the quality of public education is at par with private schools).
- Equity – This is not the same as equality. Equality means everyone is given equal shares of benefits. You might think that this is just, but it is not. Consider two families, one has two kids while the other has 8. Both are given equal amounts of food and clothing. Do you think that this setup is just? Equity means taking into consideration the status of the individual and giving him what he needs.
- Participation – This is the right of the individual to have their voices heard when the group is making important decisions that will impact the whole group. To increase people’s access, limiting barriers should be removed, like only a certain class of people are allowed, and also the historically-undermined groups of people should be encouraged to speak their mind.
- Human Rights – These are the basic rights that all persons have, including, but not limited to, the right to life, vote, have free speech, and others. One cannot achieve social justice without these basic human rights. It is the most powerful of all the principles for the very reason that they are universally recognized, and that governments are held accountable if they were to violate or fail to uphold human rights among their populace.
Is True Social Fairness Possible?
Here’s where things get tricky. From the surface, true social justice sounds very similar to Marxist socialism is. Although this form of government looks good on paper (some might even argue that it does not), socialism is almost impossible to implement and is always abused. One can strive to reach social fairness, but absolute one is still very far from the reach of modern man.
What Kinds of Social Inequality are Pervasive Today?
Social inequality happens when the resources are unevenly distributed among the population within a given society, and they typically are done along the lines of the social categories of people. For instance, people are discriminated on based on their ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, class, and many others.
If you belong to the lower rungs of society, you will not be getting the same amount of access to the group’s resources compared to those who are (perceived to be) above you. There are different categories of social inequalities that one can find today, including:
Socio-economic Status
In layman’s terms, this is the inequality between the upper classes (the rich) and the working class citizens. In this sense, those in the upper classes have access to better quality education because they have the means to afford so. They also often have plenty of opportunities to work in high-paying professions. Those in the lower classes, on the other hand, are forced to settle for poorer quality resources because of their limited income.
Gender
This is when men and women, and also in many cases, those in the LGBTQ community, are treated differently by society and by their industries. Sexism is the major contributing factor to gender inequality. There are many cases wherein equally capable women are passed over for a job in favor of men. In some cases, sexism is so institutionalized that women are being actively refused for career advancement.
Race / Ethnicity
This is when a person of a certain race or ethnicity would give priority to people who are of the same race when it comes to providing employment, rendering services, and others. For the better part of the century, Caucasian business owners would actively seek out people of the same race when it comes to hiring for upper management jobs. This also happens the other way, with people of color bypassing Caucasian applicants in favor for those who share the same skin color as theirs.
Can Social Inequality be Eliminated?
Social inequality is a horrible thing that unfortunately still exists in modern society, and it might take a while before it can be completely eliminated, if it is at all possible. One might think that they are not the same as the others and that they do not apply social inequalities with different people. However, the truth is that everyone has their own biases that they consciously or unconsciously apply on others. Until people learn to set aside their personal biases, social inequality will still pervade.
Do Women Have Equal Rights in the Country?
Despite living in modern society, you will still notice gender inequality that works against women. Why are women still being treated as second-class citizens especially in the workplace? If you still think that women are treated equally, here are some examples that point to the contrary:
The Gender Pay Gap
This is a very controversial topic, mostly because both sides of the argument hold very damning evidence disproving each other. No one point can totally debunk the other. However, many people have reported that on average, women earn 81 cents to the dollar of men. Granted that this does not apply to all industries, but there are some industries where this is actually the case.
Women Are More at Risk of Sexual Harassment
Most of the time, women fall victim to their male colleagues’ catcalls and snarky, sexist remarks, often veiled as distasteful humor. However, there is an alarming number of reports of purported physical attacks both from co-workers and customers. It is estimated that women who work in the service industry (servers and the like) who work for tips are more prone to sexual harassment from the male (and sometimes female) patrons.
Racism
Although racism affects all genders, women are more mistreated in the workplace. A study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that Native American and Hispanic women receive the lowest amount in compensation compared to the other participants from other social strata, at the average only earning $28,000 to $31,000 per year, which is a polarizing figure, to say the least.
Women are Often Passed Over for Promotions
Even though women getting the same, sometimes even better educational background than men, they are often passed over for promotions to a higher position. Of all the CEO positions in the United States, only 5% of them are women and they also compose less than a tenth of the top earners in the country.
What’s the Status of Women in Society Today?
It is very sad to see that even in our modern society, women are still viewed as inferior to men even though their contributions to society are equal. Is it possible that this gender divide will be eliminated in the near future? Well, the mere fact that this problem is being discussed means that society is at least going in the right direction. Hopefully, there will come a time when true equality is achieved.
How Does Wealth Divide People?
Some people think that it does not matter if there is such a huge wealth divide between the classes of people in the country. However, it leads to quite a lot of problems if you analyze it carefully.
Financial Burden for the Economy
One reason why the wealth divide is a big problem is that the rich have a disproportional amount of political power compared to the regular working class folks. This usually leads to the development of skewed and disproportionate tax brackets that favor the rich and financially burden the middle and lower classes. It is an inefficient tax structure that will not be able to collect nearly enough of the needed tax revenue of the government. Less tax revenue means fewer funds for government projects.
Increased Crime Rate
Another reason why the wealth divide is that it will increase the country’s crime rate. One of the reasons why this is so is that there is resentment and hostility in the disadvantaged members of society over scarce resources and available job openings. This, combined, will lead to higher criminal behavior.
Another reason is that wealth inequality somehow provides incentives to commit a crime. For instance, when there are very limited numbers of lawfully obtaining resources, people would start weighing the consequences of committing a crime to the payout that they will receive from it.
Even with the risk of incarceration, and even death is taken into account, it will likely be that the returns gained from illegal methods will be exponentially bigger than going through the legal route.
Less Funds for Law Enforcement
Yet another reason why the widening of the wealth divide should be narrowed down is that it will reduce the amount and quality of law enforcement situated in the depressed areas. The rich tend to congregate with each other, and they always choose to live in gated compounds in the nicer part of the cities. That means they can provide more funding for law enforcement officers.
The effect will be the opposite in the lower-income section of the city. Lower median income means there will be less funding for police officers, which then means there will be less officers patrolling the area. They will also have vastly inferior training and equipment. A weakened police force will only lead to increased crime rates.
Conclusion
There are many more reasons why the wealth gap should be bridged. The ones mentioned here are just some of the more serious ones. Hopefully, this helped change your view on this topic.
How Does Wealth Divide People?
Some people think that it does not matter if there is such a huge wealth divide between the classes of people in the country. However, it leads to quite a lot of problems if you analyze it carefully.
Financial Burden for the Economy
One reason why the wealth divide is a big problem is that the rich have a disproportional amount of political power compared to the regular working class folks. This usually leads to the development of skewed and disproportionate tax brackets that favor the rich and financially burden the middle and lower classes. It is an inefficient tax structure that will not be able to collect nearly enough of the needed tax revenue of the government. Less tax revenue means fewer funds for government projects.
Increased Crime Rate
Another reason why the wealth divide is that it will increase the country’s crime rate. One of the reasons why this is so is that there is resentment and hostility in the disadvantaged members of society over scarce resources and available job openings. This, combined, will lead to higher criminal behavior.
Another reason is that wealth inequality somehow provides incentives to commit a crime. For instance, when there are very limited numbers of lawfully obtaining resources, people would start weighing the consequences of committing a crime to the payout that they will receive from it.
Even with the risk of incarceration, and even death is taken into account, it will likely be that the returns gained from illegal methods will be exponentially bigger than going through the legal route.
Less Funds for Law Enforcement
Yet another reason why the widening of the wealth divide should be narrowed down is that it will reduce the amount and quality of law enforcement situated in the depressed areas. The rich tend to congregate with each other, and they always choose to live in gated compounds in the nicer part of the cities. That means they can provide more funding for law enforcement officers.
The effect will be the opposite in the lower-income section of the city. Lower median income means there will be less funding for police officers, which then means there will be less officers patrolling the area. They will also have vastly inferior training and equipment. A weakened police force will only lead to increased crime rates.
Conclusion
There are many more reasons why the wealth gap should be bridged. The ones mentioned here are just some of the more serious ones. Hopefully, this helped change your view on this topic.
