What Is Smith's Positive View Of Inequality?

In direct contrast to Smith’s positive view of inequality, Rousseau believes unchecked inequality leads to the downfall of the lower classes. As inequality grows through the specialization of labor, man’s egocentrism, or amour propre, leads to jealousy and conflict between those who have accumulated wealth and capital. To counteract this under the pretense of protecting all peoples, the wealthy unite and create a society of rule “which gave new fetters to the weak and new forces to the rich, irretrievably destroyed natural liberty, established forever the law of property and of inequality, changed adroit usurpation into an irrevocable right, and for the profit of a few ambitious men henceforth subjected the entire human race to labor, servitude,

This general will consists of the the association of the will of all citizens: “[it] would always result from the large number of small differences, and the deliberation would always be good” (Rousseau 173). While not an average of the desires of all members, the differences in opinion between all citizens gets countered out and only the good desires remain. In order to correctly follow the desires of the general will of the entire republic, each citizen enters the following covenant: “Each of us places his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and as one, we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole” (Rousseau 164). Every citizen gives up the entirety of himself or herself to the sovereign, and in return receives an equal amount back. This guarantees that every person receives the same rights in return that they gave to others, with the greater force of the entire sovereign to preserve what he has. Subsequently, the fundamental equality of rights for all citizens becomes engrained in the very fabric of society: all members have equal say in the general will (and therefore the actions of the government), and decrees equally affect all without discretion. The state will thusly follow only the general will, ensuring private wills

As previously described, lack of mindful engagement in menial work is the largest problem of unchecked inequality. The privileged people of society have the opportunity to support their children through their teenage years, allowing for a more well-rounded education. After almost two decades of education, these young men and women then enter the workforce by whatever path they are most suited. Before that point, they have ample opportunity to prepare themselves to excel as compared to the children of common people. As such, they will continually perform better and increase the inequality in society. On the other hand, those children of common people must work as soon as they are able to, and such a trade will be very simple and uniform. The poor youth could not hope to develop proper mental capacities. To remedy this, Smith proposes to afford the public an opportunity for education. “The public can facilitate this acquisition [of the most essential parts of education] by establishing in every parish or district a little school, where children may be taught for a reward so moderate that even a common labourer may afford it” (Smith 843). This education will make the populace better workers, allow opportunities to the poor, and prevent the mental decay of