I was reading an article and there was a discussion brewing about everyone in the US having equal opportunity. However, equal outcome is not guaranteed. What do you guys think?
Does a Hispanic woman from Camden, New Jersey have the same equal opportunity as a White male from Greenwich Connecticut? Greenwich is one of the wealthiest cities in the US(For those of you who don't know).
I do agree equal outcome is not guaranteed, but is complete equal opportunity actually real? Let me know what you think.
This depends upon how you define "Equal Opportunity" - what your expectations are.
For example, a contest where anyone can enter is "equal opportunity" - but the people entering it are from radically different backgrounds, fields of study, and various raw aptitudes. Some people come from families who had more money and could afford to invest more in education for their child or just spend more time with their child to pass on even more knowledge. Others came from a background where they had to take on responsibilities many of their peers did not - they helped to hold the family together during rough times.
America does not have "equal opportunity" because of things like 'affirmative action' and other such things - where businesses and centers of education must hire or accept a certain percentage of one racial group or another to be considered within standards. There are numerous other legally enforced discriminatory policies, but most of them come in the form of mandated healthcare and other such things.
So, from a strictest sense of "everyone can enter into the competition" - we still have to ask whether or not this is "equal opportunity" as not everyone has actually had equal upbringings (and therefor not had equal opportunity in regards to experiences leading up to the competition).
I contend that it is not possible for a government to address that issue, and that it is an issue that will naturally resolve itself if people are simply left much to their own devices.
But others don't necessarily hold that view, and contend that something must be done about unequal upbringings that impair one's ability to compete in various aspects of equal opportunities.
