One Step Further

You may have seen the meme that illustrates the difference between equality and equity in one of its many variations. You know the one with the three children of different heights standing on boxes to look over a fence and watch a ball game.

In the first panel labelled Equality, each child has a box. This scenario is based on equal treatment and the assumption that everyone benefits from the same supports. Some people might even call this fairness. Except it is not fair to the shortest child who can’t look over the fence to see the game.

The second panel is labelled Equity and the shortest child gets a second box and is able to watch the game. In this scenario, everyone gets the support they need and it appears that the playing field is level. However, some may assume that the second box was taken from the tallest child (who in reality doesn’t need it) and this could be a source of resentment.

In the real world, neither of these scenarios exist because the distribution problem has not been solved. Although there is the fundamental American belief that all men people are created equal, we haven’t even reached the first stage where everyone has a box, let alone made progress on creating a level playing field.

But there is a third scenario which takes things one step further but requires some out-of-the-box thinking. And that is addressing the cause of the inequity and removing the barrier. Another name for tearing down this wall is justice.

There is an aphorism frequently used by John F. Kennedy and later by Ronald Reagan that a “rising tide lifts all boats”. There is some truth to this saying, but in our efforts to broaden prosperity, we need to remember that some people’s boats are not seaworthy and some don’t have boats at all.