Equality vs. Equity

This morning I saw the above picture on Facebook (from which I stole it, and forgot to find a reference. Further research has told me that lots of people have used it so I don't feel too bad, but it's still stealing so if anyone knows the original source please let me know!) and it really got me thinking.

If asked previously if I was pro-equality, my automatic response would be to say yes. And to some extent that remains the case, I believe in equal opportunities.

However, while equality represents sameness, equity represents fairness. By applying equality to a situation, it can only be fair if everybody is starting from the same, and that is where equity comes into play.

This differentiation has been commonly disputed for example in politics. To simplify what I know to be a rather more complex issue that I'm going to make it out be, there are some people who believes in equal tax rates for all. While this would be equality, what it wouldn't be is equity, because not every person earns the same and can afford to pay the same rates of tax. Those people are often the ones to benefit most greatly from the taxes in forms such as the NHS or financial benefits. These benefits are designed to bring people up to an even playing field (equity) but there uneven distribution in comparison to the amount of money contributed in tax (more contributed by those who receive less) cannot be considered equality. In addition, the aforementioned NHS runs on the basis of equality in Scotland, where prescriptions and medical access are free to ALL tax payers, while the financial benefits are means tested and consequently based on equity.

This afternoon I bought my first copy of "The Big Issue". I haven't finished reading it but what is evident is that the company operate a system of equity, with the aim of moving forward to achieve equality. The opportunity of a job selling "The Big Issue" may be something that is only available to those in real need of it (equity) but it then brings those people up to a more level playing filed where they can earn a living. "Hand up not hand out" and "trade not aid" are 2 of their principle slogans. I'm sure the same idea can be applied to all or at least many charities, but the striking thing about this particular publication is that it is pioneering equity with a real focus on an eventual equality.

Some would argue that Communism was a clear demonstration of the harmful effect of equality and that equity is the way forward. In order to put together a properly constructed response to this I would need to think long and hard on my view of, well essentially on austerity and on some people always having more- would being ok with that mean I had to be ok with some people always having less than average, for example? But for now, because it would take me a lot of time and a whole new post to explore that idea, I think it's suffice to say that I am pro equal opportunity, rather than equality in its purists, most literal sense. But hey, I realise that that is pretty idealistic.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, Catriona xx

A little on the outside

Have you ever been in a situation when you're with people, but you still feel lonely? Like, you're there, but you don't feel included? Sometimes this is due to the people you're with, but mostly you don't think they're being deliberately exclusive, but more that you can't shake the feeling of exclusion?

I'd like to think that this is something we've all experienced at some point in our lives. I certainly have. At school, at uni, not all the time but enough to notice it.

I know that there are probably far more scientific or psychological theories to apply to this 'feeling', but I'm going to blabber on with my own opinion anyway. I believe this 'loneliness' of sorts begins in our heads, and expands to become reality as we convince ourselves it is real. Do I make sense? So I suppose I mean that it begins in a lack of self-confidence, and if we don't take steps to rid ourselves of it, people get bored and what was originally a made up loneliness becomes a reality.

I personally am someone who's feelings towards myself can vary from day to day- one day I feel quite worthless and the next I have lots of proactive plans to better myself. Irrespective of the cause of this, it's something which, although it never feels like it at the time, I have some control over. When I make effort with people and it's not reciprocated, for example, it's very easy to feel disheartened and defeatist, but it's important that I don't give up, and instead find the place where my effort is recognised.

I'm not meaning to imply that we should all let people walk over us, not at all. I think one person who really helped me to understand that my 'little on the outside' feeling wasn't just me, was author Marina Keegan, who sadly died before her collection of essays and short stories 'The Opposite of Loneliness' was released. Her book was definitely the best thing I read in 2015, for many many reasons. However the title itself demonstrates the feeling which, reversed, creates the feeling of being on the outside. Loneliness of a sort, I mean she does say that is what the 'belonging' feeling is the opposite of after all, but it's more than that. Just as belonging to something, or at least feeling like you belong to something, gives you a warm, fuzzy, included feeling, the opposite can make you feel cold, empty, or excluded.

In terms of taking the steps I mentioned earlier, I think the main one is not to let the feeling fill you up. Get outside, meet people, have experiences and make memories. For every time you feel on the outside of something, there will be several times you can feel valuable. From now on, when I'm sitting along reflecting on how 'on the outside' my stupid mind is making me feel, I will try and remember 3 times I was feeling 'The Opposite of Loneliness". Secondly, I know it's cringe, cliché and obvious, but don't let the feeling change you., If you're feeling excluded, most of the time an attempt to change yourself will make no difference because, as I said, the exclusion isn't real but a result of an unfortunately low level of self esteem at that time. After arriving at University I wrote a post called "I'm Just gonna 'do' me"  which discussed my resolution to stick at being myself and developing my own personality, as opposed to trying to be someone else. And the majority of the times, this approach has worked for me. I've made lots of friends who know me for me, and that's what makes me even more sure that my occasional lapses in self-confidence are not about who I am but about feeling a bit low.

I know that this has become quite ramble, but I hope I've been able to demonstrate that I realise that simply making an effort to participate and to  be included doesn't guarantee the former, fuzzy 'opposite of loneliness' feeling, but that when we get the opposite feeling of standing on the outside of a circle, recognised but simultaneously unable to pierce through the circumference, that we remember that it doesn't last forever, and it isn't true loneliness, but a feeling which we all get from time to time.