Anthony Valgimiglo Asks: Whilst happy to make number four on your list, Gary, I have to ask why you stand for InEquality? Some mistake, surely??
Answer: Thanks for this. No mistake Anthony. If you live a country which has #Liberty #Law #Opportunity there will always be #Inequality. You can't 'stand for' the first three and not speak up in favour of Inequality. Of course, then you get into arguments about 'equality of opportunity'. That's hokum too because that's an impossible state. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try to create as many opportunities for people as we can. And guess what? The way you do this is through making sure that we live in a society which promotes Law and Liberty and Opportunity.
I remember only too well standing for Parliament in 1992 and parroting all the briefing papers on education about equality of opportunity sent to me by Conservative Central Office. No-one was a bigger ‘nurture’ over ‘nature’ person than me. Then several years later I had my own kids and saw almost immediately that they had a hell of a lot of inherited traits from the way they scratch their nose, to the way they mentally approach problems. Right now I say it's 70/30 in favour of ‘nature’ in determining 'Equality' outcomes within the same society constructs. This doesn’t mean that those 'nature' characteristics can’t be ameliorated or managed but a certain innate intelligence (not solely academic) is baked in. If you factor in how much a child is loved and encouraged, where it lives and how much a kid’s parents value education and experiences and (insidiously) how well they are connected, you’re bound to get inequality. I don’t like, and try not to overly practice the last of these (what a cop out!), but my support for Law and Liberty and Opportunity means I stand up and respect, if not delight in the difference in equality caused by the others.
Answer: Thanks for this. No mistake Anthony. If you live a country which has #Liberty #Law #Opportunity there will always be #Inequality. You can't 'stand for' the first three and not speak up in favour of Inequality. Of course, then you get into arguments about 'equality of opportunity'. That's hokum too because that's an impossible state. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try to create as many opportunities for people as we can. And guess what? The way you do this is through making sure that we live in a society which promotes Law and Liberty and Opportunity.
I remember only too well standing for Parliament in 1992 and parroting all the briefing papers on education about equality of opportunity sent to me by Conservative Central Office. No-one was a bigger ‘nurture’ over ‘nature’ person than me. Then several years later I had my own kids and saw almost immediately that they had a hell of a lot of inherited traits from the way they scratch their nose, to the way they mentally approach problems. Right now I say it's 70/30 in favour of ‘nature’ in determining 'Equality' outcomes within the same society constructs. This doesn’t mean that those 'nature' characteristics can’t be ameliorated or managed but a certain innate intelligence (not solely academic) is baked in. If you factor in how much a child is loved and encouraged, where it lives and how much a kid’s parents value education and experiences and (insidiously) how well they are connected, you’re bound to get inequality. I don’t like, and try not to overly practice the last of these (what a cop out!), but my support for Law and Liberty and Opportunity means I stand up and respect, if not delight in the difference in equality caused by the others.
