Kamala Harris and The Pursuit of Equity

Ryan BourneSo there ’s a big difference between equality and equity. Equality suggests, “oh everyone should get the same amount.” The problem with that, not everybody’s starting out from the same place. So if we’re all getting the same amount, but you started out back there and I started out over here, we could get the same amount, but you ’re still going to be that far back behind me. It’s about giving people the resources and the support they need, so that everyone can be on equal footing, and then compete on equal footing. Equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place.The above text is the script ofa video circulated on Twitter by Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. It ’s fair to say it has raised a few eyebrows among conservative, libertarian, and even soft liberal commentators, especially given the Biden campaign ’s theme that it is for moderation in politics.The initial reaction has focused on the very end of the final sentence, taking it as an endorsement from Harris for achieving “equality of outcome” via government policy. Andrew Sullivan, for example,tweeted““Equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place.” That’s equality of *outcomes* enforced by the government. They used to call that communism.” AsFriedrich Hayek once wrote, “There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. While the first is the condition of a free soc...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs