Global Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities (***Recognized Equality)
#myNorm: Empathy — Respecting that every person is different is the best way to realize that our humanity is the one thing that we all have in common.
It’s interesting that most global goals are very absolute (ex. NO poverty, ZERO hunger, gender EQUALITY). I understand that GG10 is mainly considering income inequality, but I don’t think the amount of money a person makes comes close to addressing what equality really is. I don’t think raising the income of those in poverty is making them more equal, because that suggests they weren’t equal in the first place. I think we should work on recognizing our equality rather than settling for reducing our inequalities.
I was born a human. I was born with “certain equipment”, so I am a male human. My parents both have dark skin, so I am a black human. I was born in the states, so I am an American human. I graduated with a degree, so I am a professional human. I left my professional career, greatly reducing my income, thus reducing my class as a human.
With so much going on in the world, labels can often be a comfort, because knowing we belong to a certain group that we identify with helps us feel safe. The truth is, whether you’re part of “team women,” “team India,” or “team wealthy,” the deeper you dig, you will always discover that you’re different from every other person you meet. The only thing that we all have in common is that we’re all human.
At norm, we always strive for simplifying things as much as possible to help us understand complex issues, which is why we believe in humanity first. Once we can agree that we’re all human, we can agree that we’re all equal. Once we agree that we’re all equal, we can celebrate everything that makes us unique rather than trying to find security in one team or another. Once we agree that (whether we like it or not) we’re on the same team, we can work on making things better together.
My perspective of how the United Nations could have made this goal more ambitious and inclusive. (Global Goal 10 was developed as a part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We centered norm around these goals after reading Issue 05 of CONSCIOUS Magazine)
