Sandra Pearl's post (and her great blog) accurately point up the   
dangers of "difference" and how easy it is to move from difference to   
inequality (& hierarchy).  Homogeneity is a good counter to these   
problems.  
  
But it is also important to see that the imposing of equality on   
unequals has its own dangers.  To me, this is most apparent in the   
US's valuable but limited 'equality before the law' -- valuable,   
because we are in important ways equal (so that, eg, a woman's   
testimony is equal to a man's); but also very limited, because   
dollars buy good representation.  And, it seems to me, contemporary   
economics, like Becker's, is vulnerable to the same sort of criticism.  
  
Peter G. Stillman