These statements (#MaC) form part of the Morality as Cooperation Quiz

What is morality? Where does it come from, and how does it work? And how and why do moral values vary, between individuals, and across cultures?

The theory of ‘morality as cooperation’ (MAC) argues that morality is best understood as a collection of biological and cultural solutions to the problems of cooperation recurrent in human social life. MAC draws on evolutionary game theory to argue that, because there are many types of cooperation, there will be many types of morality.

These include: family values, group loyalty, reciprocity, heroism, deference, fairness and property rights. Previous research suggests that these seven types of morality are evolutionarily-ancient, psychologically-distinct, and cross-culturally universal.

Take the Quiz to work out what your particular mix looks like.

TL;DR – Almost every aspect of society has levels of inequality which make it unfair.

I think that the clearest and most convincing way to argue that the current levels of inequality in society are unfair is to look at statistical fact. Some of the numbers below are just shocking, unignorable and inexcusable and as a society, we must do better to rectify these inequalities.

Inequalities regarding:

GENDER - The gender pay gap among all employees was 17.3% in 2019 in the UK meaning that per hour of work, men earned on average 17.3% more than women did. (1)

RACE - In the UK, BAME workers are paid around £3.2bn less than their white counterparts every year. (2)

CLASS/POVERTY - There is a clear pathway from childhood poverty to reduced employment opportunities, with earnings estimated to be reduced by between 15% and 28%. (3)

ACCESS TO EDUCATION – A study showed that those who grew up privately educated or in selective state grammar schools were 8x more likely to have attended a top Russell Group University and 24x more likely to have gone to Oxford or Cambridge. (4)

NORTH/SOUTH DIVIDE – There is a general health divide that exists in England, with researchers claiming that about 1.2 million more people have died before the age of 75 in the North than in the South since 1965. (5)

SEXUALITY - 86% of secondary school teachers and 45% of primary school teachers say pupils in their schools had experienced homophobic bullying. In addition, 89% of secondary school teachers and 70% primary school teachers have heard the use of homophobic language in their schools. (6)

RELIGION – The number of religion related hate crime offences in the years 2016-17 was 5,949. (7)

(1)https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2019
(2) https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/
(3)https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/compendium/economicreview/february2020/childpovertyandeducationoutcomesbyethnicity
(4) https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/06/29/elit-j29.html
(5) https://news.sky.com/story/line-18-stats-show-huge-north-south-divide-11389007
(6)https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539682/160719_REPORT_LGBT_evidence_review_NIESR_FINALPDF.pdf
(7)https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652136/hate-crime-1617-hosb1717.pdf

Is there a fair level of inequality?

Yup. As a man living in Britain, I'm living that truth.

Any level of inequality is unfair

• The definition of being is fair "treating people equally without favouritism or discrimination" , due inequality people are not treated equally or given the same opportunities thus any level of inequality is unfair.
• Inequality exists across every issue in society and people in society who are disadvantaged and oppressed due to inequality suffer disproportionately badly eg. in the climate crisis , this is not fair especially as the most disadvantaged society have contributed much less to the climate crisis "Carbon emissions of richest 1 percent more than double the emissions of the poorest half of humanity"

I'll make this simple, LIFE IS NOT FAIR. In almost all cases it can be traced back to a poor choice either for immediate gratification or shear stupidity. Sometimes these poor choices can and will effect children and grandchildren, not their fault but let blame go where it needs to go. Upshot of this is I don't think it is up to me to pay for the outcome of someone else's poor choices.

Whether inequality is fair or unfair is independent of the quantity of the inequality. This is because inequality is not unfair in itself (if it is, I'm happy to hear arguments as to why).

What matters is the cause of that inequality - the cause might be fair (as in: being compensated for the work performed or a reward for investing the capital) or unfair (as in: receiving a government benefit without providing anything in return). Inequality might be small, with unfair causes, or large with fair causes. So, just to reiterate, there is no reason to think a large amount of inequality is inherently less fair than a small amount of inequality.

To enquire whether the ‘current’ level of inequality in society is unfair implies either that, as others have observed, there is a hypothetical fair level of inequality or, alternatively, that we had achieved parity at some time in the past and have since diverged from it.

‘Fair’ also has a connotation of there being somebody to blame, suggesting that there there is no such thing as organic inequality or at least organic inability to resolve it.

Society’s current inequality levels often reflect systemic barriers that limit access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities for marginalized groups. This unfairness undermines social cohesion and perpetuates cycles of poverty and exclusion. Addressing these disparities through policy reforms, inclusive practices, and social support is vital to creating a just and equitable society.