![]() The laws may not create opportunities for some that it denies to others. In the first sense then, equality of opportunity can be understood as a legal concept: "Equal laws protecting equal rights," as James Madison put it. The third points to the fact that we are each profoundly shaped, for better and for worse, by the parents we are born to and who raise us, and by the communities in which we grow up. ![]() The second concerns our dealings with one another - especially in the workplace and the marketplace. Broadly speaking, they are the law, the private sector, and the so-called "birth lottery." The first covers the way the state deals with us. To think through the various meanings of equality of opportunity, it is helpful, then, to distinguish among the sources of unequal opportunities in life. In a country such as ours which upholds the idea of equality of opportunity, people will inevitably set their sights on eliminating the barriers that prevent people from competing for positions and getting ahead in life. The equivocal nature of the term will inevitably give rise to disagreements about its meaning. In this broader sense, equality of opportunity melds two distinct ideas: the availability of opportunities to improve one's lot in life and the actual ability of people to take advantage of those opportunities. Equality of opportunity thus grows to encompass the broader idea that people's station in life is not fixed at birth and that society should provide opportunities to improve it. They are also avenues of upward social and economic mobility. In a democracy, however, positions and careers are more than ends unto themselves. Human nature being what it is, nepotism continues to exist, but it is rarely defended publicly in America. Under a regime of equal opportunity, desirable positions in the public and private sectors are open to all and should be awarded on the basis of merit. We speak of an equal-opportunity employer, not of an equal-opportunity church or family. It applies not to all of the opportunities that life may offer, but primarily to economic and educational opportunities for career advancement. The challenge we face is how to resist this siren song and its damaging implications, while continuing to champion sound policies that can expand opportunity for those who were born into challenging circumstances.Īs it first presents itself, the idea of equality of opportunity has a rather limited scope. To be sure, it is a powerful idea because it appeals directly to our democratic prejudices. Conservatives, in particular, need to gain clarity about the left's expansive view of equality of opportunity as equality of life chances - arguably the central moral doctrine of modern liberalism. ![]() At its root, our ongoing debate about the vitality of the American Dream and the promise of equality of opportunity underlying it is really a debate over what life owes us and what we owe one another.īecause equality of opportunity looms so large over our politics, it is crucial that we better understand its different meanings. ![]() We differ widely about how to gauge whether opportunities are indeed equal, and over how much should be done - and by whom - to equalize opportunities. About 95% of us agree that "everyone in America should have an equal opportunity to get ahead." But we don't all understand this to mean the same thing. And so, when it comes to "equality of opportunity" - perhaps the most cherished term in our political lexicon - nearly all Americans embrace the idea. In America, we don't disagree about whether equality, rights, and democracy are good. What Lincoln said of liberty applies equally to our other core political ideals. We all declare for liberty but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing." "The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty," said Lincoln, "and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. While the address itself is of little note, it does contain a passage that sheds much light on the character of political debates in America. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln gave a short speech to a sanitary fair in Baltimore. ![]()
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