Egalitarianism—or, rarely, equalitarianism—is a trend of thought that favors equality for
all people.
Egalitarian doctrines maintain that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status,
according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term has two distinct definitions in modern
English.
It is defined either as a political doctrine that all people should be treated as equals
and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights or as a social philosophy
advocating the removal of economic inequalities among people or the decentralization of power.
Some sources define egalitarianism as the point of view that equality reflects the natural
state of humanity.
Forms Some specifically focused egalitarian concerns
include economic egalitarianism, legal egalitarianism, luck egalitarianism, political egalitarianism,
gender egalitarianism, racial equality, asset-based egalitarianism, and Christian egalitarianism.
Common forms of egalitarianism include political and philosophical.
Economic Egalitarianism in economics is a controversial
phrase with conflicting potential meanings.
It may refer either to equality of opportunity, the view that the government ought not to
discriminate against citizens or hinder opportunities for them to prosper, or the quite different
notion of equality of outcome, a state of economic affairs in which the government promotes
equal prosperity for all citizens.
The free-market economist Milton Friedman supported equality-of-opportunity economic
egalitarianism.
Economist John Maynard Keynes supported more equal outcomes.
An early example of equality-of-outcome economic egalitarianism is Xu Xing, a scholar of the
Chinese philosophy of Agriculturalism, who supported the fixing of prices, in which all
similar goods and services, regardless of differences in quality and demand, are set
at exactly the same, unchanging price.
Political Egalitarianism in politics can be of at least
two forms.
One form is equality of persons in right, sometimes referred to as natural rights; John
Locke is sometimes considered the founder of this form.
The slogan "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" was used during the French Revolution and
is still used as an official slogan of the French government.
Social ownership of means of production so that the surplus product produced accrues
to society as a whole as opposed to private owners is sometimes considered to be a form
of economic egalitarianism.
Although Karl Marx is sometimes mistaken to be an egalitarian, Marx eschewed normative
theorizing on moral principles.
Marx did, however, have a theory of the evolution of moral principles in relation to specific
economic systems.
Karl Marx was a proponent of two principles, the first applied to socialism and the second
to an advanced communist society: "To each according to his contribution" and "from each
according to their ability; to each according to their need".
Marx's position is often confused or conflated with distributive egalitarianism, in which
only the goods and services resulting from production are distributed according to a
notional equality; but in reality Marx eschewed the entire concept of equality as abstract
and bourgeois in nature, focusing instead on more concrete principles such as opposition
to exploitation on materialist and economic logic.
Philosophical At a cultural level, egalitarian theories
have developed in sophistication and acceptance during the past two hundred years.
Among the notable broadly egalitarian philosophies are socialism, communism, social anarchism,
libertarian socialism, left-libertarianism, social liberalism and progressivism, all of
which propound economic, political, and legal egalitarianism.
Several egalitarian ideas enjoy wide support among intellectuals and in the general populations
of many countries.
Whether any of these ideas have been significantly implemented in practice, however, remains
a controversial question.
One argument is that liberalism provides democracy with the experience of civic reformism.
Without it, democracy loses any tie—argumentative or practical─to a coherent design of public
policy endeavoring to provide the resources for the realization of democratic citizenship.
For instance, some argue that modern representative democracy is a realization of political egalitarianism,
while in reality, most political power still resides in the hands of a ruling class, rather
than in the hands of the people.
The cultural theory of risk holds egalitarianism as defined by a negative attitude towards
rules and principles, and a positive attitude towards group decision-making, with fatalism
termed as its opposite.
Religious In Christianity
The Christian egalitarian view holds that the Bible teaches the fundamental equality
of women and men of all racial and ethnic mixes, all economic classes, and all age groups,
based on the teachings and example of Jesus Christ and the overarching principles of scripture.
However, within the wide range of Christianity, there are dissenting views from opposing groups,
some of which are Complementarians and Patriarchalists.
There are also those who may say that, whilst the Bible encourages equality, it also encourages
law and order and social structure.
These ideas are considered by most to be contrary to the ideals of egalitarianism.
At its foundational level, Christian thought holds that "... in Christ, there is neither
Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man nor woman", defining all as equal in the sight of God
in relationship to faith in Jesus Christ.
Various Christian groups have attempted to hold to this view and develop Christian oriented
communities.
One of the most notable of these are the Hutterite groups of Europe and North America, living
in agricultural and collective communities.
Judaism Judaism posits that all humans are essentially
created equal and in the image of God.
This recognises that regardless of gender, ethnicity and race all humans contain the
spark of the divine within them and as a result must be treated with human dignity.
Islam Louise Marlow's Hierarchy and Egalitarianism
in Islamic Thought compares the egalitarianism of early Islam to current practice.
Buddhism Military
Military egalitarianism has been noted since ancient times, such as with Shakespeare's
St. Crispin's Day Speech.
This occurs in spite of the distinctions military forces attempt to make between officers and
enlisted men.
For example former Major General Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. said that United States Air Force
culture included an egalitarianism bred from officers as warriors who work with small groups
of enlisted airmen either as the service crew or onboard crew of their aircraft.
Reception An essay by Gary Hull in Capitalism magazine
criticizes:
Egalitarianism, which claims only to want an 'equality' in end results, hates the exceptional
man who, through his own mental effort, achieves that which others cannot...
In an attempt to 'dumb down' all students to the lowest common denominator, today's
educators no longer promote excellence and students of superior ability...
Imagine the following Academy Award ceremony.
There are no awards for best picture or best actor.
Instead, every picture gets a certificate and every actor receives a prize.
That is not an awards ceremony, you say?
So it isn't.
But it is an egalitarian's dream -- and an achiever's torment.
Talent and ability create inequality...
To rectify this supposed injustice, we are told to sacrifice the able to the unable.
Egalitarianism demands the punishment and envy of anyone who is better than someone
else at anything.
We must tear down the competent and the strong -- raze them to the level of the incompetent
and the weak...
What would happen to a Thomas Edison today?
If he survived school with his mind intact, he would be shackled by government regulators.
His wealth would be confiscated by the IRS.
He would be accused of 'unfair competition' for inventing so many more products than his
competitors.
On the other hand, Alexander Berkman suggests:
...equality does not mean an equal amount but equal opportunity...
Do not make the mistake of identifying equality in liberty with the forced equality of the
convict camp.
True anarchist equality implies freedom, not quantity.
It does not mean that every one must eat, drink, or wear the same things, do the same
work, or live in the same manner.
Far from it: the very reverse in fact...
Individual needs and tastes differ, as appetites differ.
It is equal opportunity to satisfy them that constitutes true equality...
Far from levelling, such equality opens the door for the greatest possible variety of
activity and development.
For human character is diverse.
The Cultural Theory of Risk distinguishes between hierarchists, who are positive towards
both rules and groups, and egalitarianists, who are positive towards groups but negative
towards rules.
This is by definition a form of "anarchist equality" as referred to by Berkman.
The fabric of an "egalitarianist society" is thus held together by cooperation and implicit
peer pressure rather than by explicit rules and punishment.
However, Thompson et al. theorise that any society consisting of only one perspective,
be it egalitarianist, hierarchist, individualist, fatalist or autonomist, will be inherently
unstable: the claim is that an interplay between all these perspectives are required if each
perspective is to be fulfilling.
For instance, although an individualist according to Cultural Theory is aversive towards both
principles and groups, individualism is not fulfilling if individual brilliance cannot
be recognised by groups, or if individual brilliance cannot be made permanent in the
form of principles.
Accordingly, egalitarianists have no power except through their presence, unless they
embrace principles which enable them to cooperate with fatalists and hierarchists.
They will also have no individual sense of direction in the absence of a group.
This could be mitigated by following individuals outside their group: autonomists or individualists.
See also
References
External links Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Moral
Egalitarianism.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Egalitarianism, by R. Arneson.
Equality, by S. Gosepath.
Equality of opportunity, by R. Arneson.
Lepowsky, Maria.
1993.
Fruit of the Motherland: Gender in an Egalitarian Society.
New York: Columbia University Press.
The Equality Studies Centre Twin Oaks Intentional Community
Federation of Egalitarian Communities