# Does equality squash creativity? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635 "2016-05-12T21:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fstbk1968](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@fstbk1968](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fstbk1968)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635/21 "2016-05-13T13:55:04Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > But who will do the “drudgery”? If everyone’s basic needs are met, how many people will choose to dig the ditches or install sewers or clean bedpans? Who will build all the houses for everyone to sit in, being creative? I’ll build the houses! I truly enjoy carpentry and building things but by profession I am an engineer, primarily because it pays better. There are plenty of jobs that I would enjoy doing but they typically don’t pay well and I’d rather not compromise my standard of living at this time. ---
**Author:** ![TheBori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee7513/32.png) [@TheBori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBori)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635/22 "2016-05-13T19:07:11Z")
I had the opportunity to travel to, and within, Russia, Latvia and Lithuania in the late '80s. I had a discussion with my host on the pros and cons of Capitalism v. Socialism (The Communist kind). He laughed when he talked of the propaganda poster of the “Communist Worker”…the one with the strong man and woman with hammer and sickle. He described a situation where you were working in a factory, getting paid the same as everyone else, with no ability (permission?) to start your own business if you have a better mousetrap… He described the typical employee performance as “dropping to the level just above that of being fired”. Without the opportunity to capitalize on innovation, there is no incentive (other than pure science) to create anything better. My host told stories of “mandated innovation”. “You will now develop a rocket to lauch a dog into space…GO!”. He was rather envious of the “garage innovators” in the US. An eye opening conversation. As far as “personal creativity”, I agree with some of the others…if everything else is the same I will strive for different. Hello Gulag. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635/23 "2016-05-13T19:16:00Z")
a former soviet neighbor of mine described the working life back then as “we pretended to work and they pretended to pay us” but ive always thought that there was a way for a government to give everyone a place to live food and basic utilities and transportation and then ya have to work if ya want anything better … ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635/24 "2016-05-13T20:51:43Z")
> [@fstbk1968](#): > > I’ll build the houses! I truly enjoy carpentry and building things but by profession I am an engineer, primarily because it pays better. There are plenty of jobs that I would enjoy doing but they typically don’t pay well and I’d rather not compromise my standard of living at this time. This made me recall James P. Hogan’s “Voyage from Yesteryear.” Now I have to go dig out that book and reread it. I think you’d enjoy it, too. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635/25 "2016-05-13T21:12:34Z")
> [@DaphneBlack](#): > > This is almost exactly how I feel. A society of total equality is by its very nature a totalitarian society. And I don’t believe that it would prevent problems like homelessness, drug abuse, domestic violence and other things that destroy human potential. It would probably stigmatize them even more, and make it more difficult to get help. Not to be confused with an Oligarrchy, which is by its very nature a totalitation society. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635/26 "2016-05-14T03:04:01Z")
> [@fstbk1968](#): > > I’ll build the houses! I truly enjoy carpentry and building things but by profession I am an engineer, primarily because it pays better. There are plenty of jobs that I would enjoy doing but they typically don’t pay well and I’d rather not compromise my standard of living at this time. But carpentry is something you enjoy. What about the jobs nobody enjoys? That’s why people have to be paid to do them. > [@nightshadea](#): > > but ive always thought that there was a way for a government to give everyone a place to live food and basic utilities and transportation and then ya have to work if ya want anything better … Government doesn’t “give” anyone anything. All they do is redistribute wealth that some people have created, and transfer it to those who haven’t created anything. Of course everyone who imagines this “utopia” thinks they’ll be on the receiving end. But if you have any talent, it’s YOUR work that’ll be exploited. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-equality-squash-creativity/754635.md?page=1)