Question

A major example of using a procedural definition of equality is the concept of equality of opportunity when applied to the economy. What does this concept mean? Is the United States really a land of equal opportunity? What are the obstacles to equality of opportunity in the United States? Should the government do more or do less, or is it doing the right amount to reduce these obstacles?

Answer 1

● The concept of equality of opportunity is defined as agents have an opportunity when they get a chance to attain distinct goals without the interruption of some obstacles. Agents have the opportunity to accomplish the same goals without the hindrance of the obstacles.

● In the United States, income and wealth are more unequally distributed than at any time, but still most Americans have a deeply held belief in opportunity or at least their children, will one day achieve the American dream. The mobility in the United States is not as high as it is in other countries, and it takes at least five generations for the effects of one’s family background to disappear. But for immigrants, America is the land of opportunity. Though women and minorities have made great progress, discrimination against both the groups remain an issue.

● In order to achieve equality of opportunity, policymakers should stress expanding access to health insurance to children, greater emphasis on good nutrition, and extending health insurance to low-income families. Improving educational opportunity is an excellent way to increase mobility and should ensure that children from lower strata of society have the same educational opportunities as those whose parents can afford to enrol in nursery school at an early age and send them to college for pursuing their higher education. By initiating preschool, elementary and secondary schooling, and higher education, the federal and state governments can help narrow the intergenerational persistence of income and wealth and ensure that children at the bottom of the economic ladder have an opportunity to move up.

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