Is inequality inevitable?

betaboy

Since people are unique, with different gifts and ideas and capacities, will there always be inequality? People who are good at something - especially if that something has market demand - then they get to the top. Others will necessarily have to be at the bottom. So wouldn't the difference in capacity itself ensure that inequality will always be present?

Jeffrey

Yes everyone has different gifts. But keep in mind that your notion of equality presumes that more money is better than less money. But that leaves out the idea that practice of dharma or the like can make people happy. Scrooge wasn't happy until he gave away his money. A monk is happy with just a robe and a bowl. Is Donald Trump 'better' than a monk because of his business skills?

poptart

Yes, "better" is entirely subjective.

genkaku

Recognizing equalities and inequalities is probably a good and conscientious human activity. But relying on such observations strikes me as running the risk of missing what's right in front of my nose.

vinlyn

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, so from that point of view, yes, inequality is inevitable.

how

IMO
A worldly view is judgmental where as a spiritual view is discerning.
Self based views are ultimately tied to greed, hate or delusion.
Spiritual views accord worth with compassion, love and wisdom.
Inequality or equality manifests in how each of us chooses to practice.

lobster

Since people are unique

Same old same old? Or a new @Betaboy truism for today?

Same time tomorrow for the usual 'uniqueness'? :wave:

AllbuddhaBound

Inequality only in the eye of the beholder. That is a construct that we place by means of judgement. If there is no judgement, then it is what it is and nothing more.

Is judging inevitable? No, not necessarily.

misterCope

Two children stand at a fence. One of them has already had a growth spurt; the other has not. Child 1 can see over the fence, Child 2 cannot. Child 1 turns to Child 2 and says, "Climb onto my back."

Equality is possible through compassion.

David

Every single one of us has it in them to do something that can benefit us all. For the worlds sake, this should be nourished.

If only education and following dreams were basic human rights the world over.

If two heads are better than one, well... There are billions of us.

federica

I am superior, it is said, to a crow. Yet it can launch itself from the topmost branches of a tree, and soar with seemingly no effort at all.
I can't do that.
I am superior, it is said, to a tuna fish. yet it can dart, swim and perform such acrobatics under water, and swim at such breathtaking speeds, with seemingly no effort at all.
I can't do that.
I am superior, it is said, to a termite.
Yet it can, along with the co-operation of its fellow termites, build such structures out of sand and clay, that are so architecturally precise, the temperature, climate and conditions remain at a perfect level throughout, with no mechanical technological means of assistance.
I can't do that.

Who am I to say I am inferior - or superior to others?

I can do many things far better than others.
Others can do many things far better than I.
In isolation, we are limited.
Working together, we can leap mountains and conquer our insecurities.

betaboy

^Correct, but the guy who's superior (financially or intellectually or in any other way) will use his gift to keep others down. He'd want to stay on top.

vinlyn

betaboy said:

^Correct, but the guy who's superior (financially or intellectually or in any other way) will use his gift to keep others down. He'd want to stay on top.

Some, yes. Others, no.

Cujo

We're all equally inequal.