The Orange Grove: No such thing as a 'level playing field'

Yet another excuse for some people to gain power over others is this metaphoric notion of the level playing field, also known as equal opportunity.

Even many people who see through the ruse of peddling equality for all tend to cave in to this approach, agreeing that everyone, at least, has the right to an equal opportunity. The opportunity for what, exactly, is not often spelled out but it may include obtaining a job, entering a school, embarking on travel, winning a contest or whatnot. When people start out to achieve some goal, none may be favored or disfavored, none may have special advantages or disadvantages.

But the idea is hopeless. In no actual or even imaginable endeavor do people enjoy a level playing field or an equal opportunity. Take those who begin a marathon race from a common starting point. Looks like they are enjoying an equal opportunity since no runner is provided with extra time or less distance to complete the race. Surely this amounts to treating all those in the race as equals.

Not really. Some runners will have gotten a good night's sleep, while others will have tossed and turned for reasons beyond the control of the race organizers. Some will have had a decent breakfast, while others would be too nervous to keep any food down; some had loving fans cheering them on; others had no one.

There are, in short, innumerable sources of inequality right from the get-go. People are simply too different and face different situations as they embark on various tasks.

But, by holding out some vain hope for a true level playing field or genuine equal opportunity, meddlers can insist that they butt in and that their legally mandated manipulations and interference are needed for the noble purpose of serving this utterly misconceived version of justice. It is all bunk.

Not only are there predictable differences among virtually all people undertaking similar missions but there are always fortune and misfortune, like the weather, or just a plain old chest cold, that can skew the odds in favor or disfavor of certain participants. Even in sports, wherein every effort is made to put all participants on an equal footing, this is an unrealistic aspiration. Everyone knows that it is unattainable, and any serious attempt to attain it will be futile and merely gives some power over others.

Then – apart from the natural, given and unavoidable inequalities that place people into different categories with different chances of winning – there is also other people's preferences, wants and hopes that upset the apple cart all the time – some athletes are loved by fans, others aren't so much. Or sex appeal is simply missing.

Even more significantly, imagine you are a farmer, planting and harvesting a crop, but consumers have just lost interest in it, and the price plummets. Meanwhile, the efforts of others, say those diving for seafood, are in high demand all of a sudden. Maybe a popular TV chef has come up with some very appealing seafood recipes, and the audience is now smitten and demand for the the farmer's crop has subsided markedly. Surely this upsets any hope for a level playing field between farmers and seafood merchants.

So how is all this to be rearranged without sending in the police, who will have no clue of what to do about it, but will insist on trying to do something, anything, so as to seem important? And how will the disparity in power of those who do the rearranging and those subjected to it be eliminated so that equality exists between them? Impossible.

The dream of full, robust equality is a nightmare; let's face it, and it is best to distance ourselves from it as far as possible.