Term Paper on "Philosophy Inequalities"

Term Paper 4 pages (1390 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Philosophy

Inequalities

This report aims to provide a philosophical argument for the question -- can inequalities be justified if they are not in the interest of those who are (otherwise) worst off? From a philosophical perspective, this effort could look for statistics and then decipher an answer. Consider that "the Urban League recently unveiled its first "Equality Index," a statistical measure designed to gauge the disparities that exist between whites and blacks in a variety of socioeconomic categories. The results are an alarming reminder of America's persistent equity gaps. The report found that, "despite substantial progress, the status of African-Americans is.73, or 73%, when compared to their white counterparts. (Center for American Progress, 2004) I think that inequalities here can not be justified. With that being said, this report could have searched a plethora of sources, studies and documented research from the ample supply of information such as the internet to find similar studies. This approach would certainly help one understand inequality as it pertains to the question of statistics. Another approach however, could be to avoid the simple yin and yang, black and white, male and female connections. There could be other discrepancies of inequality to consider if we break down the original question. Do we understand each and every word? This report attempts to utilize a more philosophical approach where we can look at just one word -- Inequality. What does it mean?

Inequality true philosopher would no doubt address the real issue here - what is meant by the word inequality? Does inequality really mean that "the unemployment rate for African-Americans has been over 10% for 15 consecutive months (versus 7.3% in March 1999). African-American teenage unemployment was an astounding 33% in 2003. Minorities are less likely to be offered any sort of retirement savings plan at work than are white Americans: 49% of Hispanics and 58% of African-Americans have this option, while 73% of white Americans do?" (Center for American Progress, 2004)

or, is this question referring to other social inequality, mathematical inequality or economic inequality? Is the answer the same for all of these word play scenarios? The word inequality has many meanings because it is an interpretive word. "Second, people often define "inequality" the way the Supreme Court defines pornography -- as Justice Potter Stewart wrote in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964), "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it." (Carden, 2003) One has to make an assumption about the meaning and the use of the word inequality to answer this question.

Assumption 1

It is a fact that, "forty-one percent of Hispanic adults are uninsured, compared to 20% of African-Americans and 12% of whites. Minorities are also less likely to get health care than are whites: 27% of Hispanics did not visit a health care provider in the last year, compared to 15% of whites. Twenty-nine percent of Hispanic women and 20% of African-American women report that they are in fair or poor health, compared to 3% of white women." (Center for American Progress, 2004)

With those sad statistics and the assumption that we are referring to an economic or social pointer for the word inequality, of course no justification can be made for those who are socially worse off. Consider that poor Americans, who are usually minorities, are just as likely, if not more so, to get sick when compared to richer Americans, who are usually white. Based on the ability to provide medical relief for those illnesses there is a definite distinction and one group is definitely worse off than the other. The ability to utilize health insurance demonstrates that the inequality of not being capable of paying ever increasing of healthcare costs is not justifiable. Those who are better off can provide that little plastic card to let the healthcare administrator know treatment can proceed. In this case, being worse off is bad.

Second Assumption

Is it ever better to be the one who is worse off? "According to the AARP, older African-Americans receive more than 44% of their total income from Social Security. The program is the only source of income for one-third of African-Americans over the age of 65. The… READ MORE

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