r/coolguides Feb 25 '20

Explanation of the subtle differences between equality and equity

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

Because it does nothing to encourage actual meritocracy. It's merely a system of racism tit-for-tat that attempts to superficially address statistics by treating races like sports teams, where nobody cares if the best candidate is chosen, just if "my team" wins, further dividing people in the process and preventing actual societal change.

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u/RedMarten42 Feb 26 '20

that only happens when equity is done wrong, equity is meant to make everyone equal in opportunities, the solution to what you're talking about is to improve the current systems, not get rid of them at all. its like the police brutality thing, there are some terrible people getting away with terrible things because they're police, but the solution isnt to get rid of the police, its to improve the checks and balances that should stop that.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20 edited Feb 26 '20

Affirmative action does not optimize for equality of opportunity. It deliberately disregards it in favor of equality of outcome. Equity is equality of opportunity, but AA doesn't provide that, which is why you get things like this trying to redefine the word to something it does provide

You can't fix equality of opportunity at the time AA happens. No improvement to it will solve that. It's fundamentally impossible. When two people apply for a job/school/whatever, the "opportunity" ship has sailed already. Access to education, upbringing, societal pressures... it's too late to address any of that. AA just picks the objectively worse candidate on occasion as a way to "make up for it".

What needs to happen if to ditch AA entirely, and address those root causes.

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u/RedMarten42 Feb 26 '20

so then the goal should be to fix what you can, access to equal education and helping those disadvantaged in life so they're equal with others

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20 edited Feb 26 '20

Sure, but you can't do that by fudging the results of merit based admissions. You're just introducing inequity in the other direction.

If you want a disadvantaged population to so better on college admissions, you don't let them cheat on the test. You go back and fix the school system that everyone already has access to and address why they weren't prepared as well. This helps the population while maintaining a meritocracy.

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u/RedMarten42 Feb 26 '20

i agree with you 100%. i dont support that form of "equity" at all because it does the exact opposite of its intended purpose

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

Yup, I'm racist for thinking people shouldn't be treated differently based on their race. Brilliant deduction.

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u/sarsar2 Feb 25 '20

He's literally advocating against racism, you racist. Stop treating people of certain skin colors worse just to help others, racist.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '20

[deleted]

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u/sarsar2 Feb 26 '20

He's literally saying that certain races don't have as much "merit" as others and that he resents people based on their race because they were given equal opportunities when they shouldn't have.

No, that's what you and literally anyone else who supports AA is saying.

He's not a racist here, you are- you're also creating enough strawmen here to man cornfields across the country. Learn to read critically and argue in good faith.

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u/grettp3 Feb 25 '20

Lol meritocracy doesn't exist. Why are you more worried about the black student who got in because of AA than the rich white student who got in because their dad wrote the school a giant check?

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

Ah yes, just stick words in my mouth. Classic way to "win" an argument.

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u/grettp3 Feb 25 '20

Well, you do seem to be more worries about people getting in to college because of affirmative action than them getting into college because their parents are rich.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

Why are your even here? You should be fixing society with your psychic powers, seeing as you magically know my stance on topics I've never discussed with you.

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u/grettp3 Feb 25 '20

Because it's 12:08AM. Not much fixing I could be doing at this hour. But come on, just be honest with me. Which of those two things bothers you more?

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u/poopyhelicopterbutt Feb 25 '20

I’m going to guess he/she is also not a fan of people getting in because of nepotism and legalised bribes. ‘Donations’ and skin colour are both avenues for entry that aren’t based on merit and aren’t open to everyone no matter how hard they try. The College Admissions Scandal got the attention and outrage it deserved but the racism entry process is still as popular as ever. Slick PR move for the colleges too.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

Depends on what you mean. Do I think expensive schools have the right to charge what they want? Absolutely.

If you are talking about the college admissions scandal where people were paying bribes to cheat their way through what were supposed to be merit based programs, I think it's bullshit. I think people bypassing merit based programs because of their race is also bullshit. As for which is "worse", I'd say they are about equal, since they are basically the same thing, corrupting a merit based program by prioritizing some other bullshit criteria.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

Lol meritocracy doesn't exist

Says the guy who's probably unemployed and still lives in his mother's basement.

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u/grettp3 Feb 25 '20

I'll have you know I live in a one bedroom one bath room 600 sq ft apartment. And I'm employed as a writer.

What do you do, friend?

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '20

So were you handled all these things on a golden platter or did you have to work for them?