What is Egalitarianism?

A:

Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality for all people. Egalitarian doctrines maintain that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status. The Transition advocates egalitarianism based on justice not just equality.

To illustrate this concept imagine cookies have been made for everyone.

If everyone was treated equally only, the cookies would be all the same kind like chocolate chip and distributed to everyone in equal number.

Now in comparison if the situation was treated justly the number of people wanting cookies would be considered as well as the needs of those who want them. So in this scenario multiple types of cookies might be made because:

  • someone is allergic to nuts
  • someone is diabetic
  • someone is on a diet and only wants to eat one

You see it makes no sense to make cookies for people who will not eat them. It is also not nice to force people to eat cookies they do not want, like, or are allergic to or can harm them in any way. So in a just egalitarian world (the one we are creating) people's needs and the demand is considered before taking the actions necessary to bring it to fruition.

To further explain this concept of Just Egalitarianism please refer to this popular internet meme:

equality_justice_meme.jpg