Equal opportunity or equal outcome, which do you prefer?

Question

Do you believe people should be able rise to a living standard based on their ambitions and talents, or all people should enjoy the same life benefits regardless of the path they take?

Answer 1

I don't think equal outcomes are possible. There is no way to measure it. It's not fair a drug addict has as much as a Nurse or a Doctor or a school teacher. The free market, although unfair, is the best tool we have to determine wealth and opportunity. When someone needs something, he pays for it. Not all people want or need the same things. I don't need or want a boat. My brother does. He buys one, the boat maker values the money more then he values the boat and the time it took to make it. My brother values the boat more then the money he spends and the time it takes him to earn it. Both win. Both are happy. I don't have a boat. Should my brother have to wait till I get a boat to have one? If he waits, neither the boatmaker or my brother will have been treated fairly. We all have equal opportunity The drug addict chooses to buy dope (hopefully not for long before he goes to jail). My brother chooses to buy a boat. The boatmaker chooses to make a profit and I have several thousand dollars to invest for things I want. The outcomes are all very different the opportunity to make of life, what you want it to be, is equal.

Answer 2

Equal opportunity but with a minimum outcome. No one should die in a rich country from starvation no matter how unproductive or even lazy they are.

Exuberant wealth is often not the result of more effort or the choices people make but instead the direct result of exploitation of the working class.  Wealth distribution is a good thing to correct the free market

Answer 3

To Democrats they say "equal opportunity",but they mean equal outcome.Notice for example the complete Demonization of anyone who succeeds.We can argue about the Paris Hilton's of the World all day,but Libs even demonize those who succeed on their own efforts and talents.Notice for example Obama's plan to more heavily tax anyone making more than $250,000.So do you think most people making $250,000 probably worked hard for what they have?Odds are that they did,that they've done the 70-80 work weeks to build their small business,or other sacrifices that involved working a lot harder than those around them.Now under Obummers new Tax Plan,they can get their proper punishment for being successful,which is of course having half their money taken away and given to some loser sitting around in a drug-induced haze wondering why he's not better off.

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Answer 4

Earn it.  Being given anything makes you not appreciate it.

Answer 5

Equal opportunity goes hand in hand with freedom.  We are not all equal, in fact, none of us is equal to any other individual.  We all excel in certain areas, and are wanting in others.  Some are better musicians, some better sportsmen, and some better at math.  Some have better balance, while others exceed in mechanical skills.  We are all individuals.  We are not the same.

In a free society, we should all enjoy equal opportunity.  I should have the same opportunity to become a member of a professional football team as anyone else.  Whether or not I make the team should be dependent on MY performance.  The same applies to every other occupation and endeavor.  Performance should determine qualification, and nothing else.

Why are some afraid of freedom?  It is the right to succeed, and the right to fail.