“One way to make sure that white and Black Americans have similar levels of wealth would be for society to get a lot more equal, lifting poor Black people out of poverty. But another way to make sure that white and Black Americans have similar wealth would be for a small number of Black people to become extremely rich. Marxists like Reed are aware of the fact that the latter course of action would ask much less of the rich and powerful, allowing them to keep most of their wealth. This, they worry, makes it much more likely that societies will try to achieve equity through such comparatively cosmetic changes that don’t actually reduce overall inequality. And if America manages to create a few dozen Black billionaires while millions of Americans of all races continue to live in poverty, they conclude, precious little is gained for most people: “The disparitarian ideal is that blacks and other nonwhites should be represented on every rung on the ladder of economic hierarchy in rough proportion to their representation in the general population.” But “a society where making black and white people equal means making them equally subordinate to a . . . ruling class is not a more just society, just a differently unjust one.”
Quote by Yascha Mounk
Work
The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
You May Also Like
“We were never meant to live in a world where everything is owned and nothing is shared.”
Source: Subversive Acts of Humanity : A Survival Guide for Choosing Evolution over Self-Destruction
Source: The Earth Transformed: An Untold History
Source: Reforesting Scotland 72: Autumn/Winter 2025
Source: Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America
Source: Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America
Source: West with the Night
Source: 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
Source: Gone Girl
Source: The Poet Empress