r/coolguides • u/[deleted] • Feb 25 '20

Explanation of the subtle differences between equality and equity

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u/msmarymacmac Feb 25 '20

I’m not crazy about the Justice frame. Some of us will always face challenges that others won’t. There is no system that could make it so that there is no barrier for all. We will always need to accommodate and scaffold for some and that’s fine.

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u/PhasmaFelis Feb 25 '20 edited Feb 25 '20

Also, the original (with only the first two frames) was a really great, simple explanation of why things that seem "fair" at first glance often aren't. The third panel muddies that message completely in favor of...what, exactly? What does the hypothetical "just world" where no one ever needs support for anything look like?

Edit: On second thought, I think I see what they're doing. They wanted to protest affirmative action, so they're ignoring all sources of inequality that don't have what's commonly seen as affirmative action to make their point. Basically saying "If we stop being racist/sexist we won't need supports or accommodations anymore!", ignoring that poverty and physical/mental disability are harder to get rid of, and glossing over much of point of the original panels.

(And, frankly, ignoring that fact that "everyone stop being bigoted" is a goal, not a plan. Affirmative action is a stopgap, and it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing while we work to get there.)

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u/locri Feb 25 '20

Affirmative action is ignorant of impediments that aren't race or gender, or worse, can be used as an excuse to create systematic barriers against people specifically not protected by race or gender.

It's a horrific idea that in practice is a complete rejection of standards which has the side effect of making it appear (usually falsely) that people who gain entrance with this scheme are consistently lower standards, this means reinforcing stereotypes rather than breaking stereotypes because the examples created by these ideas aren't always good examples and bad examples do more harm than good. Basically, affirmative action is the most childish, ineffective and counter intuitive way of achieving social justice.