Equality. Equal Opportunity. Equal (you fill in the blank). Equality in all of its forms has been harassing my brain of late. Over the last week I have spent a lot of time hearing about equality in the work place, with education, in regards to the economy, and social status. So what is equality? What would our world be like if we were all equal, we all had the same opportunities, the same social status, the same economic status, the same everything? Would we be better off? Could we finally put all the bickering aside? If equality existed would it do away with crime? Would it cure our illnesses? Would it save our children? Would it feed the hungry? House the homeless?
Utopia does not exist. Therefore, how can you ever achieve a world in which everyone is completely equal? The answer is you cannot. It is a sad truth. I honestly think that deep down everyone knows this and those who cry for equality, do not so much want equality but desire instead to be on the other side of the inequality fence, the one where they make the rules, they have the money, they have the status.
Yes a world where everyone has equal rights, and equal opportunities, equal (you fill in the blank) is ideal. Yes, we should strive to achieve that, it is what keeps the "forces of evil" from completely taking over and running the rest of us into the dirt. However, we must be realistic and realize the implications of a world with no inequality. We as humans cannot attain perfection.
"All the citizens of a state cannot be equally powerful, but they may be equally free."
~Voltaire~
Utopia does not exist. Therefore, how can you ever achieve a world in which everyone is completely equal? The answer is you cannot. It is a sad truth. I honestly think that deep down everyone knows this and those who cry for equality, do not so much want equality but desire instead to be on the other side of the inequality fence, the one where they make the rules, they have the money, they have the status.
Yes a world where everyone has equal rights, and equal opportunities, equal (you fill in the blank) is ideal. Yes, we should strive to achieve that, it is what keeps the "forces of evil" from completely taking over and running the rest of us into the dirt. However, we must be realistic and realize the implications of a world with no inequality. We as humans cannot attain perfection.
"All the citizens of a state cannot be equally powerful, but they may be equally free."
~Voltaire~
Josh,
ReplyDeleteYour blog raises interesting questions about the possibility of enacting ideals, including but not limited to, equality. Can we achieve freedom? Happiness? Peace? In many ways, these are social constructs that are defined and influenced by cultures, socioeconomic systems, and politics. They are subjective in nature and not easily measured. Yet, we give these concepts so much power as we strive to understand ourselves in relation to the world. Are we the fools in doing so?
Jessica
I think you said it all when you said that humans are not perfect. (and they never will be). In the world today I think people have confused the two terms of equality and fairness. While all citizens share equal rights under the Constitution nothing was said about anything being fair in life. For example, I walked onto the field for my first football game last year and ruptured my spleen. Many other people in my grade had played in numerous games and never got injured. Nothing was fair about it and it screwed up my family for over six months. But thats life and people need to accept it like I did.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. Humans are imperfect beings which apply flawed, faulty, or biased logic to almost every scenario. While true equality is pretty much impossible, all we can hope for is tolerance and equality in the eyes of our government.
ReplyDelete