This essay shows that the goal of equality of opportunity is both absurd and vicious. Achieving it would require that children all be raised in the same environment and have the same genetic inheritance. In contrast, the essay shows that what we should actually strive for is the freedom of opportunity. Freedom of opportunity means the ability to exploit the opportunities afforded by reality, without being stopped by the initiation of physical force, in particular the initiation of physical force by the government or that takes place with the sanction of the government.
For example, people are unable to find work not because there is no work for them to do in physical reality, but because government and labor-union interference, based on the initiation of physical force, prices their labor beyond the reach of potential employers. The amount of work that is out there waiting to be done may be gauged by adding up all the goods and services people would like to have but presently can’t afford to buy. The total of such work far exceeds our ability ever to preform it. Physical force, or the threat of physical force, is what stops people from seizing such opportunities to the point of all who want jobs finding jobs. It creates unemployment in violating people’s freedom of opportunity.
The essay shows what opportunities actually are, how they are the product of human thought and effort, and why and how they require individual freedom for their exploitation. The essay upholds the idea of “the self-made man” and demonstrates how and why in later life—in a free society—children born to poor parents can, and again and again do, overtake and surpass the children of far wealthier parents.
The essay is essential reading for anyone who wants to defend not only individual freedom but also economic inequality and the institution of inheritance.
For example, people are unable to find work not because there is no work for them to do in physical reality, but because government and labor-union interference, based on the initiation of physical force, prices their labor beyond the reach of potential employers. The amount of work that is out there waiting to be done may be gauged by adding up all the goods and services people would like to have but presently can’t afford to buy. The total of such work far exceeds our ability ever to preform it. Physical force, or the threat of physical force, is what stops people from seizing such opportunities to the point of all who want jobs finding jobs. It creates unemployment in violating people’s freedom of opportunity.
The essay shows what opportunities actually are, how they are the product of human thought and effort, and why and how they require individual freedom for their exploitation. The essay upholds the idea of “the self-made man” and demonstrates how and why in later life—in a free society—children born to poor parents can, and again and again do, overtake and surpass the children of far wealthier parents.
The essay is essential reading for anyone who wants to defend not only individual freedom but also economic inequality and the institution of inheritance.
