Actresss Angelina Jolie attends the 'Salt' South Korea premiere at the Time Square on July 28, 2010 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Inequality helped to define the 2016 election. Bernie Sanders built his entire platform on challenging the wealth gap in our society, while one of the most successful slogans of the cycle – “Drain the swamp!” – helped elect a billionaire. How well that drainage is going is another story completely, for another article – there are plenty out there.
But what does equality mean, and is such an ambition even possible? It depends on how we define the term. Extensive research on economic disparity between white and black boys destroys any notion that everyone is on equal footing in this country. Anyone claiming that everyone has an equal shot in America is either ignorant or lying.
But equality is a complex and relative subject, as Yale cognitive scientist Mark Sheshkin points out. Research shows that while slogans for equality dominate social media and protests around the nation, most appreciate a bit of inequality. As Sheshkin puts it, “we should aspire to fair inequality, not unfair equality.”
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OK, I know that this piece concentrates on the inequalities in US society but many of the discussion points will relate to anywhere in the world.
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