Equality: a choice of homogeneity or diversity
Michael Julius
Issue date: 5/17/06 Section: Opinion
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Equality. When we think of good and noble American virtues, equality mostly likely sits at the top of the list most of the time. Our own Declaration of Independence tells us that all men are created equal, and so we know they must. Right? The truth is, except in perhaps the very limited political and legal sense that a reasonable reading of the Declaration allows for, all men are created un-equal, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about that.
You see, some people are tall, some are short. Others are fat, skinny, white, black, smart, dumb, funny, boring, rich, poor-everyone is different, and everyone is inherently unequal. Therefore, even within those tightly selected and very prestigious groupings into which we place people-Asian, Pacific Islander, black, white, etc-there remains diversity and difference beyond our ability to comprehend. However, there is still that incessant annoying group of people in society who continually demand that we work to bring about equality (i.e., SAMENESS) while at the same time marketing themselves as groups which trumpet diversity. Now, lets put on our thinking caps for a second. Hmmm... what is wrong with that idea? Oh, I know! You can never, ever, have equality in the way they desire and still have diversity.
Moreover, the type of equality constantly being demanded of this nation is in fact the greatest enemy of the freedoms and liberties which we claim to hold dear. You can never have diversity and equality, but you can try, and when you do all you will accomplish is to stamp out the things which have made this nation great. We can ban offensive talk about race, color, creed, or lifestyle, and so to remove from everyone the freedom of speech. We can stop the Klan, the Nazis, or any other group of hateful and despicable individuals from meeting and spreading their message, and we will have also destroyed our freedom of assembly. We can bar the city of Omaha from a new novel approach to districting in which people who live near each other go to school together in the righteous name of desegregation and Brown v Board of Education, or we can consider for a second that their might actually be a value to going to school with your neighbor. In the end, we can demand that people stop being different, and if we succeed then we will simply stop being free.
Equality. When we think of good and noble American virtues, equality mostly likely sits at the top of the list most of the time. Our own Declaration of Independence tells us that all men are created equal, and so we know they must. Right? The truth is, except in perhaps the very limited political and legal sense that a reasonable reading of the Declaration allows for, all men are created un-equal, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about that.
You see, some people are tall, some are short. Others are fat, skinny, white, black, smart, dumb, funny, boring, rich, poor-everyone is different, and everyone is inherently unequal. Therefore, even within those tightly selected and very prestigious groupings into which we place people-Asian, Pacific Islander, black, white, etc-there remains diversity and difference beyond our ability to comprehend. However, there is still that incessant annoying group of people in society who continually demand that we work to bring about equality (i.e., SAMENESS) while at the same time marketing themselves as groups which trumpet diversity. Now, lets put on our thinking caps for a second. Hmmm... what is wrong with that idea? Oh, I know! You can never, ever, have equality in the way they desire and still have diversity.
Moreover, the type of equality constantly being demanded of this nation is in fact the greatest enemy of the freedoms and liberties which we claim to hold dear. You can never have diversity and equality, but you can try, and when you do all you will accomplish is to stamp out the things which have made this nation great. We can ban offensive talk about race, color, creed, or lifestyle, and so to remove from everyone the freedom of speech. We can stop the Klan, the Nazis, or any other group of hateful and despicable individuals from meeting and spreading their message, and we will have also destroyed our freedom of assembly. We can bar the city of Omaha from a new novel approach to districting in which people who live near each other go to school together in the righteous name of desegregation and Brown v Board of Education, or we can consider for a second that their might actually be a value to going to school with your neighbor. In the end, we can demand that people stop being different, and if we succeed then we will simply stop being free.
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