Equality is a concept born with an inherent contradiction. If true equality means recognizing each person’s individuality and helping them realize their maximum potential, then at the end of that process, an “unequal result” inevitably awaits. When equal sunlight and water are provided to every seed, some trees grow massive while some grasses remain small. How, then, are we to accept this paradox—that the very effort to persuade and realize equality creates, in a twist of irony, even more distinct differences?
The Specter of Hierarchy Born from Measuring Difference
The proposition of encouraging individuality for the sake of equality necessarily presupposes the task of measuring and classifying “who possesses what individuality.” The goodwill of providing opportunities tailored to each person’s talents and tendencies summons a system that quantifies and grades individual abilities.
This is where cognitive distortion occurs. The “development of individuality,” which was meant to be a tool for equality, soon degenerates into a “demonstration of superiority and inferiority.” As individuality is encouraged, society begins to weigh its “market value,” which in turn creates a sophisticated form of class. The ladder that started with the goal of equality transforms, during the ascent, into a rigid vertical wall once more.
A New Form of Power Named “Individuality”
If equality simply meant the arithmetical equalization of outcomes (one-nth), individuality would be eradicated. However, if equality means recognizing individuality, we face the problem of how to control the natural advantage enjoyed by those with “exceptional individuality.”
As the environment in which individuality can bloom becomes perfectly equal, the resulting differences in ability are attributed purely to an individual’s genetic and environmental “luck.” At this point, the strong fall into ego-inflation, believing their success is entirely due to their own unique traits, while the weak taste a total defeat that leaves no room for excuse. This is the “trap of meritocracy,” where equal opportunity becomes the ground for the harshest inequality.
The Intellectual Balance That Uses Contradiction as Fuel
Is equality, then, merely an unrealizable, self-negating concept? Intellect interprets this paradox not as a “defect to be solved,” but as a “tension to be maintained.” The true essence of equality that the intellect should pursue is a dynamic state where equality does not harm individuality, yet individuality is constantly checked so that it does not solidify back into class.
The reason we risk the danger of harming equality while advocating for it is that the moment we stop questioning out of fear of that paradox, society falls into massive stagnation or violent uniformity. It is the belief that even if the act of placing a ladder results in the breaking of that ladder, the expansion of intellectual insight and human dignity gained in the process is more valuable.
Closing Thoughts
Equality is not a finished state; it is an endless “process of adjustment” that advances while embracing contradiction. It is a repetitive struggle: recognizing the differences that arise from encouraging individuality, yet casting the net of equality once more to ensure those differences do not undermine fundamental human value.
We must not suppress individuality in the name of equality, nor should we mock equality in the name of individuality. The tense point of contact where these two contradictory values grapple with each other is the very territory of the intellect where humanity must reside. Equality is not an answer but the most difficult of questions, and only those who do not give up on that question can discover the thorns of discrimination hidden behind the brilliant flowers of individuality. To endure contradiction—that is the highest form of humility that an adult intellect, having transcended infantile black-and-white logic, can display.
The Intellectual Property of Min Jinseong
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