10
| POLITICS, ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS
which is considered either inevitable or morally ‘right’. However, inequality created by social circumstances,
such as poverty, homelessness and unemployment, is morally ‘wrong’, because, as Andrew Heywood says,
they allow some to start the race of life halfway down the running track while other competitors may not even
have arrived at the stadium. Equality, in this sense, leads to an unegalitarian ideal – a meritocratic society. In
a meritocracy, success and failure are ‘personal’ achievements showing that while some are born with skills
and willingness for hard work but others are either without skills or plain lazy. Such inequality is not only
morally tenable but serves as an incentive ...