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Neither is a full solution.
The notion of everyone being treated fairly, equally, and having equal opportunities to thrive and succeed is an ideal we can all agree is a positive one. As soon as we take one step forward away from the base concept, however, the challenges and troubles start almost immediately.
How do we define what is fair? How do we define what does or does not disqualify someone from equal treatment and opportunities? Should there be any qualifying or disqualifying at all? How do we monitor these considerations? Who has, or should have, the power to arbitrate these questions? Who has, or should have, the power to monitor them?
As with all complicated questions a crucial first step is making sure we are working with and towards the same definitions. What do we mean by equality? How are we measuring it? Are we looking at processes or results? Are we aiming to generate equality or to correct inequality? Before we can do anything about a problem we have to agree upon out definition of the problem, what contexts we are examining, and why we are looking at them.
Right at the beginning, the first challenge is in making sure we are all meaning the same thing when we used the word equality. Equal treatment and opportunities may be what we are aiming for but many of the strategies, approaches, and potential policies we…