Can Equality Be Forced? The Struggle for the Survival of the Species
Aug 18
We are living in a critical moment in history. The world oscillates between two forces: the pursuit of absolute equity —where everyone should be equal— and the need for freedom and diversity, which are the driving forces of innovation and evolution. This tension is best understood through a simple but powerful tool: the Bell Curve.
The law of normality: why perfect equality does not exist
In nature and in society, most things are distributed like a bell.
Most people fall near the average (height, income, talent).
A few are at the extremes: geniuses, visionaries, the very poor, the very rich.
This happens because results depend on many combined factors: genetics, effort, luck, context. The mixture tends to cluster around the mean. That is why absolute equality is impossible: there will always be dispersion.
Systems that seek to impose total equity —such as communism in its most radical version— attempt to flatten the bell, forcing everyone to be equal. But doing so means going against the very nature of human variability.
The cost of a flat world
When a society tries to eliminate differences, it pays a very high price:
Innovation dies. Geniuses and creatives live at the extremes of the bell. Without them, there would be no scientific, technological, or cultural advances.
Adaptability is lost. Diversity is what allows evolution and survival in the face of unforeseen changes. A homogeneous society is like a species without genetic variability: it may appear stable, but it is extremely fragile.
Control is installed. To keep everyone in line, the State must monitor, standardize, and repress. Absolute equality can only be achieved through coercion and authoritarianism.
The current crossroads
COVID-19 was a turning point. In those years, governments tested massive control tools: quarantines, digital certificates, total traceability.
China consolidated its model of uniformity and surveillance.
In other regions, even democratic ones, some control mechanisms were normalized.
Today we clearly see the two paths:
A model of non-evolution, based on control and homogeneity.
A model of evolution, based on freedom, diversity, and innovation, although more chaotic and unequal.
What is at stake
History and biology are clear: without diversity there is no evolution, and without evolution there is no survival.
The path of absolute control promises order, but it is an empty order: a cemetery stability.
The path of freedom and innovation is more uncomfortable, but it guarantees that the species remains alive and adaptable.
Conclusion
The real challenge is not to force perfect equality, but to find a balance where equity reduces the extremes of injustice, without killing the freedom and diversity that allow us to evolve.
Evolution is not a luxury: it is the condition of our survival.
The Bell Curve in Geopolitics: The Case of China and COVID-19
The Bell Curve not only explains phenomena in biology or economics; it can also help us understand how political systems behave in the face of global crises. China’s management of the pandemic is a dramatic example of how a model of control seeks to flatten the social curve, eliminating variability to impose uniformity.
Seeking to flatten the social curve
The “Zero COVID” policy was an attempt to reduce the standard deviation of the curve to zero. Instead of accepting the natural dynamics of a pandemic (the majority infected with mild symptoms, and a minority at the extremes of severity or immunity), the Chinese government tried to keep the entire population at a single point: absence of visible disease.
Massive lockdowns.
Apartment doors literally welded shut.
Digital surveillance to track every movement.
The attempt was to force the entire society to live in the “perfect average”: no one sick, no one free.
Consequences at the extremes
The cost was enormous. By suppressing the natural variability of the virus and of society, the system became fragile:
Citizens lost freedom and autonomy.
Many were left without medical care, trapped in their homes.
Meanwhile, China became the greatest economic beneficiary, selling masks and medical equipment to the entire world, while sacrificing its own population.
The apparent “stability” hid an enormous human price.
Contrast with global adaptation
In contrast, many Western countries followed a path closer to the logic of the Bell Curve: they allowed the natural dispersion of responses —with mistakes, infections, and losses— but also with room for innovation.
New therapies and telework models were created.
There was a diversity of strategies: some failed, others succeeded, but all contributed to adaptation.
This process was disordered and painful, but also resilient: it shows that diversity and the freedom of response are fundamental for the long-term survival of society.
👉 In one sentence: China tried to flatten the social Bell Curve by force, and paid with internal fragility; other societies accepted variability, and although they suffered, they evolved toward new forms of resilience.
