Equality?
Posted on February 28th, 2008 by Jose Ignacio Sanchez
Charles de Montesquieu once said, “The love of democracy is that of equality.” Now this could be interpreted in many ways but I believe he meant that when in the eyes of the law all men are equal. As we have seen many people have some very opposite views about the state of equality that we live in today. I myself have asked people about the government and their views but only adults and some few peers, but now I want to ask you guys on this educational forum to relay your ideas on the subject.
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wait i dont quite get what your asking, but what i get is your asking us to tell you our ideas of how equality should fit into government.
i feel that there needs to be a good amount of equality in whatever political system you have. but complete equality is impossible, in the sense that one group of people will always value themselves over another. and (some) goverment officials always feel they are better than the people, and thus cause inequality.
but the real question here is, what is equality? is equality an open exchange of ideas through out the people? or is it complete censorship so no one can make any one not feel “equal”. sadly our society is moving toward the later, a society that instantly calls something “irrational” or an “extremist” just because they share a slightly different view. now im not saying we need a society with no censors, and im not saying that all ideas or beliefs are “equal” in importance, but what i am saying is that people need to stop getting so offended by stupid things, be it someones views on religion, or politics or even personal idealologies. we should just learn to accept others ideas, but not have them shoved down our throats.
i hope that has something to do with what your asking. oh and sorry if i rambled on a bit.
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so since im missing blog comments…
uh, the first thing i thought of:
“all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”
i dont think that people are equal in the eyes of the law/government at all. (this IS what youre asking right?) rather, i think that the majority of people need to think that they are receiving equal treatment in order for the whole democracy thing to work. this way, they wont revolt, and instead be content and happy people. and when you are a content and happy person, you dont go looking for faults within your government.
as for what i interpret the quote as… i think hes saying that people who love democracy are the people who love equality. but.. i dont see how that makes sense because isnt communism more along those lines? because dont americans elect a president who has veto power? that.. doesnt sound very equal to me.
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Sorry, Jose. The only thing I think people are equal in is the chance to be better than others. We live in a world where competition to survive is the only way to live. You compete with someone for a scholarship, you compete with someone for a spot in your college of choice, you compete with someone for a job. You compete for a position in which you manage. The thing in common with all of these is that they show who’s better than who. If people were all equal, truly equal in the eyes of the law, then there would be no law, because no one is better than anyone else, and therefore no one is better suited to carry out the duty of law. The only chance of equality is in anarchy, and even in anarchy, there is inequality, because humans will still fight each other for power. Call it pessimism, but I call it realism; you can see it throughout all of history.
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Every person in this country has the right to vote. In the eyes of Democracy, a vote is a vote, whether from the richest of the rich or the poorest of the poor. The bread and butter of Democracy is that the more fortunate or well-off can’t just grab power from the less fortunate. Anthony is right; nobody is equal. In every other aspect of life, people are constantly competing. But the very foundations of our government would fall apart if we didn’t have equal representation. Yes, we do give up a lot of our power to Senators, Representatives, Governors, etc., and in that sense we aren’t equal. Maybe equal opportunity are better words to describe our government. Anyone CAN become president, Governor, Senator, Representative, or Mayor. Perhaps the only thing holding our government together is this right of ours to hold any position in government. Whether or not it’s feasible is up to us as individuals.
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No one is truly equal. Equality is an idea that has been about the talks for centuries… But everything that has developed from equality separates us more and more. Back during the civil rights time of 1900’s, whites and blacks desegregated leaving everyone happy. Anyone notice on the AP/SAT tests what type of information you fill in? Race… Asian, American? How about human… Not to say that the idea is impossible, but the realistic details suggest that our society, government or civil, cannot exist without partiality. How would you feel if a person with half your qualifications and credentials were given the same job you worked hard to attain? No, no, we thrive on our individualities. If we are all the same, whether in mind/thought or by standard, we are no more than robots; But even a robot is given orders by a higher being. If all is the same, then there is no hope for progress, whether negative or positive. The idea of humanity and our traits of curiosity making us separate individuals are taken out of the equation.
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Through out history, it is noticeable that the human race has never considered everyone equal; slavery is one of the best examples of this. I personally believe no one is equal to anyone else for we are all completely different beings, making us each individually unique. Everyone has their own beliefs and way of doing things, if we were all equal we would all be doing the same thing all the time. When it comes to government, specifically the United States government, there may be a strive toward equality for all, like stated in the Declaration of Independence, yet if everyone was equal then why is there government in which is above the rest.
I also believe that God created everyone on this earth with a uniqueness unlike any one else. He may have created us “all equal” but not in a sense where everyone does the same things, has the same jobs, fulfills the same purpose on this earth. God created every person so that they may be different than others; this difference is what makes this world so exciting, adventurous, and dangerous. No one is equal, but i believe this inequality is a very good thing.
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