Inequalities: A Social History

When one speaks of inequalities, it is usual for the listener to assume that one is not speaking of lack of equality in physical strength, quickness of tongue or store of wisdom, qualities that nature supposedly bestows in different measures on different individuals. One’s mind rather goes to inequalities in wealth, income and ease of life, which, in turn, determine corresponding degrees of access to opportunity, skills and knowledge. Inequalities in such material spheres affect also our physical well-being and even intellectual capacities, and such differences in human abilities may fairly be said to be derived from our social inequalities rather than being nature-given.