#bad14

http://www.pascalflammer.com/   

It is vital to the future of humanity that we embrace our differences, but all differences are examples of inequality. We all differ in our appearance, our genetic strengths and weaknesses, our talents and abilities, and the backgrounds of religion, culture, philosophy, language, and family that have shaped us.

As we all differ, so we all have something of value to bring to our worlds. On the one hand, then, the inequalities that allow and encourage our differences are acceptable and must be maintained. However, in terms of our opportunity to thrive, to pursue goals, to educate ourselves, and to bring value to our world, it is important that we strive for an absolute equality. People must not be put down by others for the differences that make them unique in the world. They must not be held back, and they must be encouraged by others to be all they want to be.

When we consider the inequalities that exist in our world, it is important to note two things: First, different inequalities stand out to different people, and every person’s ‘take’ on the important inequalities is important to hear and consider. And second, inequality is not a phenomenon happening “long, long ago in a galaxy far away”; it is real, current, and local. As an illustration of this, I asked the students in a university class I teach the following question.

What are the most important things you can say to the world about the current state of inequality among people in the local area (Central British Columbia, Canada)?

Here are some of the things they said. Each bullet-point segment was contributed by a different student in the class, but they all had access to each other’s comments.

Inequality is defined as the condition of being unequal; lack of equality; disparity. Every person will at some point in life come face to face with inequality. It could be in a workplace or while in school. In the workplace, inequality is often in the form of sexism. This could be expressed in talking about “blue” and “pink” jobs, where males and females are not able to cross over and do jobs that are not considered to be their “gender colour.” With this gender role inequality, there often comes a pay difference. Even in cases where women are more qualified than a fellow male coworker, their pay will generally be less.

To say we have inequality in BC is to state the obvious. We have child poverty and many people rely on food banks. Many people that work minimum paying jobs cannot afford to live.

Equality has been an issue in every society since the beginning of time. If there is more than one person in a room, both of them will feel superior to each other in their own way.  Whether two people or an entire community, inequality is an issue that is still prevalent in our modern society.  No matter how far we think we have come up the evolutionary scale, society holds fast to its preconceived ideas and standards, no matter how outdated and wrong they are.  As individuals, though, we have an obligation to do what we can to correct inequalities when we come across them in our daily lives.  Every correction, no matter how small can snowball and become something bigger.  Calling a bully on his or her behaviour or hiring a qualified person of a different ethnicity or religious belief is a start.  Accepting a person’s sexual orientation or religion as being a part of who they are and not the totality of what they are is one step that could lead to greater equality in the larger world.  

Inequality occurs very often in Central BC and all around our country. Some people think they are better than others, creating huge problems, some of which are eventually result in violence. Some people are treated differently because they can not afford some of the greater things in life. Even when someone from a different race is new to a workplace or a school, they are often looked down upon. When someone is constantly being looked down upon, it can really take a toll on that person. I feel like inequality has grown over the last couple years and will continue growing, whether it is based upon sexuality, gender, or age. In addition, teenagers are often looked at like they are complete idiots that just want to mess around and create problems. While some teenagers do that, there are also teens who care about their surroundings and care about what others think and feel.

Inequality happens everywhere and can take many different forms. Gender inequality, racial inequality, and economic inequality all happen often and everywhere. Although our western society seems to think that inequality has been mostly removed, I personally think it’s still rampant in interior British Columbia. My hometown has a very serious racial inequality issue, and it’s only impeding the town’s growth. I see many people of other races who look down on First Nations people who are single mothers or youth. This encourages nothing, especially when the First Nations are such a huge part of our history. This is like beating heads against a brick wall when races backstab and hurt each other. It’s not productive and it doesn’t encourage growth in my community. I see another issue of economic inequality, especially with the youth. Many youth who live here tend to hang around the crowd that they and their parents relate with economically. For example, the “rich kids” hangout with the “rich kids”, the “middle class kids” hangout with the “middle class kids”, and of course the “poor kids” hangout with the “poor kids”. This results from the community being small with a large lower and a large upper class. An inequality issue like this can make children with less fortunate home lives feel like they are not equal or capable of living a successful life. Gender equality is very relevant in the workplace around interior British Columbia. Many jobs that require working with tools, power tools, and machinery are considered “men’s jobs”. Although women work in the heavy-duty trades, it’s still hard to get a comfortable paying job in this work force if you are a woman. We have all experienced a form of inequality in some way in our lives. The only way to put a stop to inequality, is to talk about it and deal with it for what it is.

Inequality is a state of being unequal. In BC and other parts of the world, inequality is a huge deal.  Everyday there are people who suffer from not having enough money or resources to survive.  In BC, there is a huge gap between rich and poor.  People are judged on the amount of money they have and the toys and accessories they are able to buy. People like to believe that this problem doesn’t exist any more, but this just isn’t true. In our everyday lives, each of us as individuals will one day be faced with inequality.  For example, single moms (or even single dads) may be stereotyped because of the way they raise their children and the mere fact of not having parents of both genders to raise their children.  Or if they do not have money to put their children in sports like other children, other people may criticize them since their children aren’t practicing their social skills or getting physical activity.  There are many different kinds of inequality and different ways inequality may affect people.

Since coming to live here in Williams Lake, l have seen lots of inequality with everyone, no matter the race. I have seen it from both sides. There are those that think others have it better because of the colour of their skin, but little do many know the real story of what it is like for those who are thought to be better off. There are those that say “She was hired because she is white” (or maybe “...because she is First Nations”), and they don't see how hard she had to work to get the skills needed for that job. There are times people don’t give others a chance to succeed because of their race, and this can be particularly hard when the person being so despised has troubles at home and just needs this job to make a big difference. We never know what is happening behind closed doors;  we all sometimes just need a real smile, not a fake one given only to move us along.

Inequality has many forms from math to humans.  Human inequality can be measured in money or family backgrounds.  "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." People think they're higher up in the social scene because they make more money and look down on people who make minimum wage.  I see a lot of this with First Nations people. First Nations moms are stereotyped as as single moms on welfare.  As a single mom myself, I find  this unfair.  Most single moms try hard to get out there in the world and look for jobs, but as soon as an employer sees you are single, you are automatically labeled as a drunk mother who won’t last on the job.  Inequality comes in many shapes and forms.  

Inequality is presented in many forms in the modern world. People like to think that society has eliminated this problem for the most part. However, while we have overcome a variety of obstacles, inequality still exists in many forms in our world. For example, I know many people who find it hard to accept foreign workers that come to Canada to take advantage of better opportunities here. In addition, there is still gender inequality present in the workplace, whether it be in an office setting or out in the oil fields. In everyday conversations, generalizations are made about specific groups, often breeding hatred and ignorance. I feel that though humanity has made very significant leaps to accept and embrace the differences that cultures, ethnicities, etc. contribute to society, there is still much that needs to be changed in our thinking and our talk, in order to eliminate the stereotypes and prejudices that result in inequality.    

In our local community there is inequality for members of the LGBT community.  It is unfortunate for all of us that it is unwise and unsafe for people to appear different than the conventional norm for sexuality.  Employers are not eager to unsettle their customers by forcing them to be served by a person they cannot identify with.  I was surprised to see the difference in how people dress and express themselves when I moved here from the Lower Mainland.  I hope that this inequality will be addressed soon.

People have unequal perspectives on the subject of inequality; this is a good an essential aspect of inequality. However, there are important inequalities that must be studied and eradicated in the world—and not just the far-away world. We need to address and change the rampant inequalities in the world that we ourselves inhabit everyday: our homes, our villages and cities, and our regions. As we address inequality, we need to follow the advice of Mahatma Gandhi: Be the change you hope to see in the world!

Join Human Rights Connected as we celebrate Blog Action Day 2014! This year, we focus on the topic of inequality as it relates to human rights.

Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement: The Necessity of Internal Equality

Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement, which arose over two weeks ago in response to widespread inequality, offers insight into the transformative potential of student activism, especially China’s biggest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. This self-described “leaderless” movement has successfully galvanized tens of thousands of diverse supporters through its focus on political and social inequality, but the question remains whether it has fully embraced democratic ideals in its internal structure. Regardless of the answer, this endeavor provides a key lesson for grassroots activists worldwide: a movement challenging inequality must itself eradicate inequality among its members to fully leverage its capabilities.

The media tends to frame the movement in terms of nationalism and democracy, but the reality is much simpler: Hong Kong is host to massive political and social inequality. In August, China’s legislature ruled that Hong Kong would receive universal suffrage in its 2017 elections, but with the condition that candidates be pre-screened by a committee, which ensure candidates’ loyalty to Beijing. Social inequality has also aggrieved citizens for years. While Hong Kong is one of the most developed economies in world, it is also one of the most unequal – the politically well-connected elite prosper while roughly one-fifth of the population lives in poverty. This means that, as China analyst Eli Friedman said, “Really almost everybody, except the super wealthy, have been excluded from having any kind of political voice.” 

The movement’s list of demands directly addresses these grievances: protestors call for the resignation of current chief executive Leung Chun-ying, an apology from his administration and officials, China’s withdrawal of the proposed ruling, the implementation of universal suffrage, and reform of workers’ rights. These demands may seem hard to attain, but the movement has made significant gains, getting the Hong Kong government to agree to negotiations with the Hong Kong Federation of Students. 

This feat is more impressive considering the simplicity of the nonviolent tactics protestors have utilized. These have so far included boycotting classes, organizing major demonstrations, occupying public spaces, distributing placards to the public, and, as in Ferguson, using the “hands up” gesture to demonstrate peacefulness in the face of brutality.

Despite such success, dispute persists whether the leaderless nature of the movement strengthens or hinders it. Preeminent teen activist Joshua Wong states, “If Hong Kong just relies on me, the movement will fail.” While protestors do vary in what the methods and aims of the movement should be, this conversely allows the movement to incorporate the views of a larger, more diverse number of individual protestors. And the leaderless nature poses a challenge to authorities hoping to suppress demonstrations.  

Protestors have refused to invite democratic opposition politicians into their fold, which seems to pose a dilemma: How can a movement that has espoused words of solidarity exclude others who share the same goals? Still, this refusal is understandable considering youth in Hong Kong have lost faith in their leadership. As Wong put it, “political reform is not going to come from going to meetings… We had to do radical action because our leaders did nothing.”

Only Connect (for Blog Action Day 2014)

A global discussion is being held today, October 16th, on the topic of inequality. Organized by Blog Action Day, this year’s event brings together bloggers from over 100 countries to consider an issue of vital importance.

Inequality evokes images of poverty, abuse, injustice, discrimination, suffering, so ubiquitous that we often feel there is little that we can do to address these problems.…

This year's theme for Blog Action Day is INEQUALITY. 

Equality is defined as the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities (Wikipedia 2014). Inequality is the lack of equality.

I could list a number of different circumstances in which inequality still exists around the world. This includes gender, race, LGBT, disabilities, economic, social and even animal rights. I'm driven personally and professionally by my passion for eliminating social injustices and inequalities. I believe no one should suffer through extreme poverty. I believe no one should face a denial of their basic human rights. I believe no one should be treated differently because of the colour of their skin, their race, their ethnicity, their class, their gender, their religious affliction, their age or because they are perceived as being outside the "norm" or not as important as someone or something else. Inequality in any form is unjust and not fair. 

My academic and professional focus has centered on economic and social inequalities. Within my Masters research I touched upon gender inequality between female and male child soldiers, but what I significantly addressed was the inequality that children faced upon their reintegration into society. This inequality surfaced largely in education and employment opportunities. Former child soldiers often find themselves facing stigmatization, isolation and sometimes the lack of accessibility and availability to appropriate education and employment training. Children need to be reintegrated into a positive environment that offers economic and social support. If there is little to no alternative options then involvement in war there runs the risk of re-recruitment. This lack in opportunities and in becoming a "full member of society" is a denial of their human rights.

I came across an interesting concept of Equal opportunity. Defined as "a stipulation that all people should be treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified." Further, "equality of opportunity assumes that it is unfair if factors beyond the control of an individual significantly shape a person’s chances in life. Formal equality of opportunity can be justified as an enhancement of individual life chances as well as a means for maximizing the well-being of society" (Wikipedia 2014) The main challenge to the idea of equal opportunity is that it does not take into consideration how circumstances beyond the control of an individual influences the ability to compete for scarce resources. There needs to be equal access to goods and services that help facilitate creating equal opportunities; such as education and employment training. Inequality comes in many forms and sizes, but underneath it all is the lack of equal opportunity. 

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Nelson Mandela