Equality Deck

What historical movements expanded equality since the 18th century?

Revolutions, abolition, labor organizing, suffrage, and the rise of the welfare state.

What are Sandel's three reasons inequality matters?

Inequality harms access, political voice, and dignity — the core of distributive justice.

What does Piketty say income gaps create?

Income gaps create power gaps, undermining political and social equality.

What is Sandel's moral critique of meritocratic success?

Meritocracy produces hubris and humiliation by miscasting success as moral desert.

What defines today's inequality regime according to Piketty?

It glorifies winners and blames the poor, harming recognition and dignity.

Why does Sandel reject the idea that markets are neutral like a 'veil of ignorance'?

Because markets embed value judgments even when they claim neutrality.

What are Sandel's two problems with meritocracy?

It fails equality of opportunity and wrongly equates merit with moral desert.

How does meritocracy weaken solidarity?

It entrenches divisions between degree-holders and non-degree-holders.

What is credentialism?

Bias toward formal degrees — the last acceptable prejudice.

What is the rhetoric of rising?

The claim that 'what you earn depends on what you learn,' fueling market merit ideology.

What educational reforms does Piketty advocate?

Ending legacy admissions and expanding public access to restore real equality of opportunity.

Why does Sandel support lotteries for college admissions?

To reveal the role of luck and undermine meritocratic hubris.

What is decommodification?

Providing essential goods outside markets to promote equality of outcome.

How do redistribution and decommodification differ?

Redistribution cuts gaps; decommodification makes money matter less in accessing goods.

What is Sandel's corruption argument?

Markets can degrade goods whose value depends on non-market norms.

How does commodification distort education?

It shifts learning toward measurable outputs like test scores.

What future trend does Piketty predict for economic value?

Expansion of decommodified sectors like health and education.

What does the US healthcare system illustrate?

Market-driven provision leads to inequality and inefficiency.

Why were historical top tax rates of 80-90% successful?

They funded mass education and supported broad prosperity consistent with the difference principle.

What does Sandel argue about the dignity of work?

Work deserves civic respect beyond elite credentialism — central to recognition justice.

Why does progressive taxation require a moral basis?

Because redistribution must rest on community and mutual responsibility.

What erodes the modern social contract around taxation?

Perceived unfairness when the wealthy avoid contributing.

What shortcomings must a new egalitarian project address?

Unequal education/health systems, lack of worker participation, and global inequality.

What drives populism more than immigration according to Piketty?

Economic displacement and loss of industrial jobs.

What is Sandel's globalization paradox?

Capital moves freely across borders while labor does not.

What is the North-South blind spot?

Northern prosperity relies on historical extraction from the global South.

Why do carbon markets fail according to Piketty?

They rely on price signals instead of democratic decision-making.

What are Sandel's three dimensions of equality?

Economic, political, and recognition/dignity equality.

What is Piketty's participatory socialism?

Worker voting rights in firms combined with redistribution and decommodification.

Why must egalitarianism become transnational?

Climate limits and global inequality require cooperation beyond nation-states.

What is Sandel's 'fix access + political equality' thought experiment?

He asks whether inequality would matter even if basic goods and political voice were equalized.

Why does Piketty say inequality still matters in that scenario?

Because extreme gaps let the rich buy others' time, creating deep dignity and power asymmetries.

What political use does Sandel see for lotteries?

Sortition (random selection) to improve representation and reduce money's influence.

What electoral reform does Piketty propose?

Party-based candidate quotas to reflect population groups like non-degree-holders.

What is Piketty's 'universalist sovereignism'?

Tariffs on imports from countries with lower taxes or standards to maintain fair competition.