We explain what equal opportunities is, how it allows us to overcome social inequalities and its importance in democracy.
What is equal opportunities?
When we talk about equal opportunities, we are referring to the idea that All people should have the same starting point in society. That is to say that only our effort and our own decisions can mark our development, without our existence being determined by our social or economic position at birth.
However, in our democratic capitalist societies, not everyone comes into the world in the same conditions: some are born into a well-off home, with all the doors open, and others in less favored homes, with deficiencies and therefore with less. opportunities and a more difficult life.
This phenomenon, known as Social inequality is common in practically all human societiesto a greater or lesser extent. However, in some cases such a gap can be overcome, thus allowing social mobility (the change of socioeconomic class, up or down), while in others it is practically unbridgeable.
In this context, Social justice is the political perspective that defends the right of every individual to have the same opportunities than the others. Thus, the individual can take advantage of them and improve, or waste them and fail. In both cases, it will be a consequence of their actions and not of their inheritance, that is, of the errors and faults committed by their parents.
Many governments and nonprofit organizations struggle to close the opportunity gap between the poor and the rich, or between other social segments.
For example, among the demands of feminism since the end of the 19th century is the idea of equal opportunities for study, work and remuneration for men and women. However, even today there is a wage gap between the pay of a man and that of a woman who do the same job.
See also: Equal rights
Importance of equal opportunities
Equal opportunities It is the only guarantee of a more equitable social futurewhich allows diversification, mutual growth of the different sectors of the community, and the exchange of wealth in terms that are truly due to effort, creativity, work, and not to inherited conditions.
This is also key to a more equitable culture, that rewards the effort in the same waycoming from whoever it comes from: men, women, religious, lay people, migrants, natives, etc.
There are many social sectors that oppose this idea, since they consider that the difference in opportunities is the “natural order” of humanity. On the other hand, it is difficult to accept how much of each person's success is due to determining conditions outside their own efforts.
Let us also remember that throughout history the distinction between the powerful and the subjugated, between the rich and the poor has not always been the same. Those who today belong to the favored stratum in other times could have had all the doors closed, or vice versa.
Continue with: Gender equality
References
- “Equal opportunities” on Wikipedia.
- “What do we call 'equal opportunity'?” in the Ministry of Labor of Argentina.
- “Equal opportunities” (video) on SENATV.
- “LAC Equity Lab: Equal Opportunities” at the World Bank.
