ABSTRACT

This chapter argues that despite overt commitments to equality, Americans actually operate with a ‘sub-rosa morality’, a kind of ethical self-deception that functions to justify radically unequal outcomes. The chapter highlights four factors that limit our moral vision: first, our narrow focus on protecting equality of opportunity through a focus on negative rights; second, our commitment to the myth of meritocracy; third, our justification of the status quo by means of scapegoating and blaming; and finally, our lack of a sense of solidarity and commitment to a common good. These issues explain why inequality, like poverty, will be with us always – not because they are inevitable features of life together, but because of particular values we hold and choices we make. In the place of an individualistic morality that focuses on equality of opportunity and merit, the chapter calls for a return to a shared moral sensibility rooted in a covenantal ideal of the common good.