When you don't have equality of opportunity because you don't

Joseph Stiglitz, a voice of wisdom in the realm of economics, once declared: “When you don’t have equality of opportunity because you don’t have equal access to education, it just seems so outrageous. It weakens our economy and leads to more inequality.” In these words, he reminds us that education is not a luxury, nor a gift bestowed upon the few, but the foundation upon which justice, prosperity, and freedom are built. To deny access to it is not only to harm the individual but to wound the very heart of a nation.

The meaning here is layered. Equality of opportunity is the soil in which talent and creativity can flourish. If the rich alone are given the tools of learning, then only their children may ascend, while the poor are chained to their circumstance. Stiglitz calls this not only unfair, but outrageous, for it violates the promise that every person should have a chance to rise according to their gifts. Without equal access to education, the ladder of opportunity is pulled up, and society becomes a fortress where birthright, not merit, decides destiny.

But Stiglitz does not stop at fairness—he speaks also of the economy. A society that denies education to its people shrinks its own wealth, for it silences the minds that could invent, build, and create. History proves this truth. In times and places where learning was restricted—whether in feudal Europe, where peasants were kept in ignorance, or in the American South before emancipation, where slaves were forbidden to read—the economy stagnated, bound by the poverty of untapped potential. By contrast, when nations opened the door of schooling widely, they unleashed innovation and prosperity. Education, therefore, is not only justice; it is strength.

Consider the example of Horace Mann, often called the father of American public education. In the 19th century, he fought to create free, universal schooling for children, insisting that education was the “great equalizer of the conditions of men.” His vision transformed the United States, equipping millions with the skills to labor, to invent, to participate in democracy. Without such a system, America might never have risen as it did. Stiglitz’s words carry the same spirit, reminding us that when education is withheld, inequality festers, and even the mightiest nation will stumble.

The origin of Stiglitz’s conviction lies in his lifelong study of inequality. As a Nobel Prize–winning economist, he has observed how wealth and power concentrate when opportunities are withheld, creating cycles of poverty that repeat generation after generation. He has seen that unequal access to education is the root of this cycle: those without it cannot compete, and so inequality deepens, corroding both society and economy alike. His outrage, then, is not abstract, but born of evidence and history.

The lesson we must take is urgent: if we wish for justice, for prosperity, for peace, then we must fight for equal access to education. This means not only opening schools, but ensuring they are of quality; not only offering seats, but ensuring that poverty does not bar children from learning. It means lifting up girls where they are silenced, supporting rural children where schools are scarce, and ensuring that education is not determined by wealth or class. For each time a child is denied education, humanity loses a light that might have burned brightly for us all.

Therefore, let each of us act. Support schools in your community. Defend funding for public education. Encourage the young, especially those who are told by poverty or prejudice that learning is not for them. Speak out against systems that reserve knowledge for the privileged few. Remember that every classroom is not only a room of children—it is the workshop of the nation’s future.

Thus, Joseph Stiglitz’s words resound as both warning and hope: “Without equality of opportunity, without equal access to education, inequality deepens.” Let us hear his outrage, and let us transform it into action. For if we open the doors of education wide to all, we will not only heal inequality, but also build a world where justice and prosperity walk hand in hand, for the good of every nation and every soul.