73
votes
How does anti-Semitism differ from racism?
The easy answer is the same reason that any language has a word: it serves a useful function. English had a lot of words for rain because it rains a lot in England, and the words used differentiate ...
- 7,468
63
votes
Why is "Equal Pay for Equal Work" regulation controversial?
"women don't deserve equal pay unless they do as good a job as men"
"You're gonna make the same if you do as good a job."
These statements are controversial because they are ...
- 47.7k
60
votes
What purpose does economic inequality (inequality in wealth) serve?
The conservative view on this topic is that wealth inequality allows to create incentive systems which encourage people to contribute to society in order to increase their wealth.
In other words: ...
- 74.8k
51
votes
What did Frank Herbert mean when he said “humans do not have equal ability”, concerning equality?
I think that Frank Herbert's points were these:
Everyone is different, with different varying abilities. You might
be good at math, I might not be. I might learn by doing, you might
learn by ...
- 1,530
47
votes
Accepted
Why are the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark among the countries with the largest wealth gaps in the world?
There's an interesting, if long, paper on that topic. The paper specifically focuses on the Netherlands, but a lot of the arguments are applicable to other modern welfare countries. The authors ...
42
votes
Accepted
Why not have a wealth dependent income tax?
You're not alone in thinking that taxing wealth more and income less is a way to reduce inequality. It's something that some commentators do argue (here's an example from the NY Times), and most ...
- 1,584
37
votes
Why is the gender pay gap quoted at 20% even though it's lower when controlling for variables?
What this question seems to ask is why the unadjusted gender pay gap is often cited (which just compares the national average incomes of men and women) when we also have an adjusted gender pay gap ...
- 74.8k
37
votes
Why is the West concerned about the enforcement of certain attire on women in Afghanistan but unconcerned about similar European policy?
According to western moral values, the two examples are not similar.
There is the belief in many western countries that certain clothing is degrading for people who have to wear it, specifically the ...
- 106k
36
votes
Accepted
What does the term "White Privilege" mean?
White privilege is an academic concept that has recently been brought into the mainstream discourse by social media campaigns and movements like Black Lives Matter.
It's basically a theory that white ...
- 8,437
32
votes
Accepted
What does the term "Equity" mean, in "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion"?
There's an excellent write up on equity vs equality on this international women's day page.
The clearest picture example included is this one for giving everyone bicycles. In the second picture the ...
- 23.9k
31
votes
What does the term "White Privilege" mean?
The clearest way to understand white privilege is as a set of hardships that white Americans are less likely to experience than those of other races (other factors like income being equal).
Everyone, ...
- 6,492
27
votes
How does social inequality differ from wealth inequality? (In a society with capitalism-esque ideals)
The difference is in the class mobility offered by the systems. Being in a particular social class gives you access to that class's resources because people discriminate based on classes.
In the ...
- 5,210
24
votes
Can a reduction of employer taxation lead to more equal income?
It is a complicated question. The answer to your title question is: no, it usually wouldn't lead to more equal income.
It was tried multiple times, the result is always the same: employers keep the ...
- 408
20
votes
Why is the gender pay gap so large in the United States despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963?
Why is the gender pay gap so large in the United States despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963?
Because it isn't.
In short, the much-cited "77 cents" figure is from the "lies, big lies, and ...
- 91.9k
20
votes
Why is the West concerned about the enforcement of certain attire on women in Afghanistan but unconcerned about similar European policy?
One it's face both laws seem similar -- requirements on what women can wear. But when examined there are many differences:
The French law allows women a great range in clothing, whereas the Afghan ...
- 3,321
19
votes
Why are the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark among the countries with the largest wealth gaps in the world?
For this admittedly older OECD page:
Inequality of disposable income in the Netherlands is relatively low from international perspective, with a Gini coefficient of 0.28 in 2013, compared with 0....
- 719
18
votes
Why is the West concerned about the enforcement of certain attire on women in Afghanistan but unconcerned about similar European policy?
+1 Probably the well-known tendency of people to see faults in others that they do not see in themselves. France's, and subsequently Quebec's - not Canada's - , curbing of Islamic dress is often ...
17
votes
What purpose does economic inequality (inequality in wealth) serve?
Here's an example. Let's say we like lollipops, and sugar for one lollipop costs $1. We each have $1 and so we can each purchase sugar for one lollipop. Even if we pooled our money, there is no ...
- 674
17
votes
What does the term "Equity" mean, in "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion"?
“Equality” means treating people the same.
“Equity” means treating people “fairly”. The complication here is that “fairness” is a subjective thing, which is why, as you note, “there doesn't seem to ...
- 3,598
16
votes
How does social inequality differ from wealth inequality? (In a society with capitalism-esque ideals)
Your question in the headline differs markedly from the question in the main text, which looks like an invitation to debate. Since that would be a reason to close your question, I will focus on
How ...
- 106k
14
votes
Accepted
How do one party governments say that they represent everyone even though they aren't democracies?
"How do they?" They lie.
Part of the "beauty" of controlling a one-party, totalitarian system is that no one can hold you accountable for lying. Indeed, people would be afraid to even question ...
- 20.8k
14
votes
What purpose does economic inequality (inequality in wealth) serve?
Wealth inequality is a consequence, not a goal. No political system in the world explicitly takes action to increase wealth inequality, their stated goals are (depending on ideology) to either ...
- 990
14
votes
Why is the gender pay gap quoted at 20% even though it's lower when controlling for variables?
You have a very simple view of the gender wage gap. If it were correct, there'd indeed be nothing to worry about. But if you look at Wikipedia's article on the gender wage gap in the US, you get ...
- 32.4k
14
votes
What does the term "Equity" mean, in "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion"?
In a very simplified manner:
Equality is to provide the same starting conditions.
Equity is to provide the same ending conditions.
Equality is a much simpler concept. It making everything the same ...
- 3,112
12
votes
Accepted
Why are only certain professions able to countersign passport photos in the UK?
A clue to the reasoning can be found by looking to the example of Canada, which originally had a guarantor system quite similar to the UK's, but changed it greatly in 2007. From the "New Guarantor ...
- 1,875
12
votes
Why not have a wealth dependent income tax?
We don't tax income based on wealth, because taxing wealth is what the wealth tax is for.
For example, in The Netherlands, the tax office assumes investments return 4% of their value, and this is ...
- 47.7k
12
votes
What's the conservative solution to wealth disparity?
First, a useful definition for understanding the following.
Rent-seeking
Rent-seeking is a concept in public choice theory, as well as in economics, that involves seeking to increase one's share ...
- 1,852
11
votes
Is there a non-hierarchical political theory based on inequality?
I'm not entirely sure what you call "contemporary", but I will take the perspective of a political theorist and cast a broad net. This answer isn't going to be comprehensive, but I hope it gives you ...
- 23.8k
11
votes
How does anti-Semitism differ from racism?
Many ethnic and religious groups have a unique term used to describe prejudice, discrimination and hatred toward them. These have developed over time because they are more descriptive than simply ...
- 1,548
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