Philosophy on Equal Rights
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Throughout history, one of the most disputed topics has consistently been equal rights within society. Social equality is defined as a social state of affairs in which different individuals have the same status in a certain respect. These extend to voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, property rights and the access to education, health care and other social securities. I will present and defend the idea that for each individual within a society to succeed to his or her full potential in my public philosophy, he or she must be guaranteed these equal rights.
The different political ideologies possess strong differing opinions on the principle of equal rights. Ideologies that support the extension of equal rights to all citizens include Contemporary Liberals and the Radical Left. There are some ideologies that are strongly opposed to the extension of equal rights to all citizens. These alternatives, which include Classical Liberals and Traditional Conservatives, do not believe that equal rights should be extended to those who are without property, illiterate, female, or possessing other attributes that have been used to differentiate the value of citizens.
The problem with such alternative principles is that they place higher value on affluent citizens, which essentially divides society into two groups; full and second-class citizens. Without being granted these rights, especially access to education and health care, it makes it very difficult for “second-class” citizens to escape their status and the stigma to which they are attached.
In order for those who are less fortunate than the affluent citizens to improve their status in society, they need access to equal rights. The first and fundamental right they need access to is health care. In today’s society, with medical costs getting higher and higher, only the more affluent in society truly have access to proper health care. Those who are less fortunate and do not have medical insurance coverage are immediately at a disadvantage from the start. Equal health care is a must for the benefit of society as a whole.
Another priceless right that all people must have access to is education. How can underprivileged citizens be expected to better themselves and their economic situations without access to education? I would say that the answer is: they cannot. In my opinion, it is very difficult for those who do not have access to a proper education to be successful. I’m not suggesting that it is impossible, because there are certain rare cases where people who have not had a proper education have found success. I’m simply stating that it is much more difficult to follow the uneducated path, and that few people achieve success in this manner.
A controversial topic regarding equal rights with regards to education is the government issuing school vouchers. The controversy surrounding these has been around since the 1950s, when they were introduced in the United States. A school voucher is a certificate by which parents are given the ability to pay to send their child to a school of their choice, rather than a public school to which they were assigned. Many argue that this undermines the concept of equal rights in education. The argument is that this allows people to send their children to a “better” school than the public school that is government funded. The major problem associated with this is that those who can afford to take their vouchers and go to a “better” school will go and leave the less fortunate at the public school to receive a “mediocre” education. I feel that this could give the students who attend “better” schools an unfair advantage over those who cannot afford to pay private school tuition. School vouchers, are simply one issue that plague the concept of equal rights with regards to education.
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