Woke

Woke is the new name attached to an idea dating back to Karl Marx and he got the idea from Hagel. It is about dividing people into two groups, the oppressors and the oppressed. The word used to fight against oppressors is equity. Equity is important because it seems to neutralize inequality but the two words are quite different. Equitable means equal opportunity and equity means equal results. If you have been discriminated against your whole life you do not feel that you have had equal opportunity so you want to make up for your loss by using equity. A good example is the idea of reparations. You want the government to take money from people who are not descendants of slaves and give that money to those who are descendants of slaves. The most popular form of equity is monetary but it stops short of paying everyone the same salary. It does want some influence in how peoples performance is measured. In some cases test given to job applicants and some in the group are given extra points because of their race. Some suggest this should take place in schools in general. They do not want equity in areas like athletic performance, art and music. In some entrance requirements to major universities the quality of your personality is given points. If you are a nice person a person who is kind and considerate of others you get points. Good arguments can be made for, "leveling the playing field". It sounds like the christian thing to do and that appeals to many Christians. WWJD (what would Jesus do). Income inequality is a problem facing the country as math makes it grow worse. If I earn $100,000 per year and get a ten percent raise, I get $10,000. If you make $50,000 and get a ten percent raise you get $5,000. Before the raise I was making $50,000 more that you and after the raise I am making $55,000 more than you. This is why the rich get richer and poor get poorer. To attempt to fight the math you give a higher percent raise to the lower income groups. While this appeals to some they do not want to go all the way to where every family earns $60,000. Who then determines how the gap between rich and poor should be narrowed. The US depends mostly on the free market to control wages. If you can do something that hardly anyone else can do you will be paid handsomely. Can you throw a baseball over the plate at 100 mph. Professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Made $300 Million in 28 Minutes by beating up another man. The closest thing we have to narrowing the gap is the progressive income tax system. The top one percent earn 20% of the income and pay 40% of the taxes. The lowest 50% pay no income tax.