Its aim is to make the reader think about whether the statement “equality is always good and inequality is always bad” is really an axiom. The author examines situations where the drive to achieve excessive equality leads to a decrease in overall welfare. The book also suggests looking at some aspects of economic and political inequality and questions of discrimination against certain ethnic and social groups from an unusual angle. Is it possible for positive discrimination to be justified under certain circumstances?
The key argument is that fighting any forms of inequality is justified and useful when its level deviates significantly from the optimal values for a given stage of society’s development (it clearly causes obvious harm and is relatively easy to fix). But if the current degree of inequality is already close to the available optimum, then any further struggle for equality and the promotion of egalitarianism lead only to higher costs and a lower level of life satisfaction among the very groups that are being discriminated against.
Another central idea: the cultural narrative about inequality affects its perception much more than its actual level. Since the objective opportunities to further reduce inequality are limited, the dominant narrative today of an uncompromising fight for equality “in any case and at any cost” causes more harm than good.