RE: Is Equality really important?
I do not think so. Capitalism understood as a free market, and not as "crony capitalism", does not require the exploitation of anyone, personal freedom itself.
The general mentality of people is what marks the idiosyncrasy of a people, and that is what ends up determining everything.
Why are the Nordic countries much richer than the rest of the countries in the world?
They are also those with lower rates of crime, homicides and corruption, however, they have much more economic freedom than the rest of the countries.
So:
Nordic countries: greater economic freedom (capitalism) = less poverty, higher quality of life.
There is no relationship between capitalism and oppression and exploitation, if that were the case, the countries with greater economic freedom would be where they exploited the most people, something that does not happen, rather countries with less economic freedom like Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, if they are exploited for hunger wages.