[Insight & Opinion] The Solution to Inequality and Polarization: The "Difference Principle"

[Asia Economy] South Korea is one of the world's top 10 advanced economies. It has achieved remarkable economic growth in a short period, and people enjoy various benefits befitting an advanced economy in their daily lives. However, rapid growth has inevitably also increased imbalance and disparity. While the number of wealthy people has grown, so has the number of socially vulnerable individuals.

Fortunately, the government has established and implemented various policies for low-income groups and the socially vulnerable, providing numerous welfare benefits. Nevertheless, current policies for marginalized groups mainly focus on after-the-fact support, which may help temporarily but are insufficient as fundamental solutions. It is time to seek new solutions to address inequality, polarization, imbalance, and disparity.

As a new approach to fundamentally resolving inequality and polarization, we can refer to John Rawls' "Difference Principle" and Martha Nussbaum's "Capability Approach." Rawls' "Difference Principle" essentially advocates giving more opportunities to the socially disadvantaged. It is a principle that grants more opportunities to the members of society who benefit the least.

Our society currently operates on the "Principle of Equality," which aims to provide equal opportunities to everyone. However, given the existing wealth and class gaps, offering equal opportunities to all is practically difficult. Instead, providing more opportunities to the socially disadvantaged and minimum beneficiaries can ultimately result in similar opportunities for others.

A representative country successfully applying the "Difference Principle" is Finland. In Finland, students who struggle to keep up with school education almost all receive additional personalized education opportunities under the name of special education. Thanks to this, all students complete their schooling without falling behind.

What about us? Students often labeled as "supoja" (students who give up on math and science) are, in fact, mostly neglected. They graduate school while being left behind. What if, according to the "Difference Principle," more opportunities were provided to supoja students so they could properly receive additional personalized education at school? The number of supoja would decrease, and the future of all students would be much brighter.

Martha Nussbaum's "Capability Approach" is also similar in context to Rawls' argument. Nussbaum's capability approach is a new method that overcomes the limitations of the traditional GDP approach, focusing on developing each individual's qualities and capabilities. It emphasizes that enhancing the abilities of the socially vulnerable is a better approach to resolving inequality.

What kind of society is a good society? A society that promotes opportunities is a better society. Enhancing capabilities ultimately broadens the realm of opportunities. Providing more opportunities to the socially disadvantaged can be a good way to fundamentally resolve inequality and disparity and realize social justice. It goes beyond giving fish; it provides the means and opportunities to catch fish.

Let us build social consensus on providing more opportunities to those left behind. Policies to reduce gaps and support the socially vulnerable should be pursued in two ways. One is the existing welfare policy that guarantees basic living, and the other is a new policy that provides more opportunities to the socially disadvantaged and enhances their capabilities so they can lead better lives independently. Giving more opportunities to the socially vulnerable is a new solution to creating a warm community where everyone is happy.

Kim Hyun-gon, Director of the National Assembly Future Institute