Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Equality is Loser Talk

Let’s talk about equality.  It is probably one of the most misused words in the English language to date and more often than not labeled as some unknown virtue.  I’d argue that equality is merely a tool of measurement and is neither virtue nor vice.

The communists won the propaganda war during the Cold War.  Yes, they lost the Soviet Union, but they managed to secure the teachers, the newsmen, the entertainers, the administrators, and many political leaders in the United States.  The result is that our language was altered, American ideas were shifted, and concepts like “equality” expanded beyond just equality under the law.

These days you’ll find the notion of equality applying to more than just the laws we live under.  You’ll see it applied to sex, race, sexuality, income level, and just about everything else.  I've always found it odd that most people aspire to become leaders since by definition, leaders are supposed to be rare and they need followers, as an example.

The point is, equality has become the virtue of the United States and has been associated with its representative democracy.  The Declaration of Independence is often cited where its line “All men are created equal” as a point of reference.  Sadly, if such people bothered to read the grievances listed in said document, there would be open, armed rebellion against the current Federal government on a mass scale.

Anyway, people these days ascribe equality to all situations in life.  Where ever inequality appears, it needs to be stamped out.  And thus we have all these wonderful social programs, business regulations, and welfare designed to ensure that all people are equal.

But are we that equal?

I am a software developer by trade.  My skills require me to be borderline autistic in order to be decent at it.  What I mean by this is that I need to be thinking in a certain way in order to perform my job.  I have to be uptight in order to write code properly and keep on open mind when it comes to debugging.

But can everyone think that way?  Our methods of thinking, I believe, are more hereditary than nurture-oriented.  I don’t believe you are a blank slate at birth and the evidence of child-rearing clearly demonstrates this.  No parent who pays attention could declare that their child’s personality is a result of their parenting.

Equality under the law is a good and wholesome concept.  We need to be able to say that our leaders are bound to the same laws that we common citizens are (unfortunately, they are not but that’s a different blog post).

But to apply equality to everyone and everything is simply absurd and ridiculous.  No single person has the same aptitude, attitude, personality, physical structure, etc. as another single person.

In other words, rugged individualism requires a rejection of the modern concepts of equality.

Or, if you prefer a more dumbed down version, equality is loser talk.  Strive to be better.