Essay on inequality

One of the biggest problems of the modern world is inequality. Of course, it’s nothing new, as through the ages of development of humanity and society, there have always been the right and the “righter”. Is there a solution for it then? Not an easy one and perhaps it’s quite optimistic to believe that men are able and willing to cooperate on this particular matter, but it’s worth trying.

Our lives are shaped from their beginning and, in most cases, there is not much we can do about it. Firstly, when a child is born it’s being brought up in a certain family, with a certain level of wealth. This factor already affects one’s future and causes inequality, as parents’ poverty may cause child’s lack of ambition or turning into the wrong side of the law. Fortunately, it’s not a rule and some children fight it ambitiously, what doesn’t change the fact that there’s no such thing as an equal start. People can achieve equality, but, from the moment they are born, some have to work and try harder to achieve their goals. It’s just the way it is.

What can be changed is people’s opinion of other men. Why should poverty or lack of education make them a worse person? It’s a kind of a vicious circle: one’s parents are poor so in effect one can’t get a proper education. One can’t get a proper education, that results in having troubles with finding a well-paid job. And, finally, this, logically thinking, causes one’s lack of income which may affect his or her offspring. The only way to change one’s life is to fight for a better future and strive to achieve success, whatever that means. For some it would be getting to college as the first one of their family, for others finding a better job than their parents’ and yet for others it would be becoming a millionaire. As people differ, so do their principles and goals, and that is why there’s no simple solution, good-for-all. The only thing that can be recommended to everyone is to believe in oneself and pick  two types of goals. Those that are reachable and those more abstract but still, with a lot of hard work, possible to achieve.

Probably, too much involvement of governments, such as unemployment benefits may cause laziness of some but others will take the opportunity to invest in their own future.

What cannot be changed is the problem of being born “in the wrong place”, that is in a place with less possibilities and a tougher way to success. It can take years and years until there can be a change, that’s why various people decide to emigrate, which isn’t always a bad idea – in some cases it’s inevitable.

Unfortunately, as mentioned before, it’s not easy at all to reach worldwide equality. Actually, it seems nearly impossible but everyone should do what they can towards this, very important, goal. It’s hard to be an optimist but without a positive attitude everything seems tougher.

Daniel Tarka, Erasmus student from Poland at the course in Technical English III, LpRI