Friday, April 14, 2006
Equality
We live by the premise that all people are created equal. What this means is that we are all free to live the way we choose, as long as we do not violate anyone else’s freedom (because doing so would take away their equality).
It seems that we have lost sight of what equality means.
Equality does not mean equal property (money, jobs, housing, possessions). These things are to be worked for or inherited. Different lineages and personal choices mean that wealth will be distributed unevenly. To forcibly take a portion of one person’s wealth and give it to another merely because the former person earned or inherited more, or to give a person a job merely because his ancestors were oppressed, goes directly against the idea of equality. Yet this is what the government does by taxing us and imposing quotas that force companies to give jobs to minorities who are not nearly qualified.
Equality does not mean equal talents. I cannot sing like David Lee Roth. Neither can you. I cannot fight like Mike Tyson. Neither can you. I am not as good-looking as Mel Gibson (or even Henry Gibson). I am not equal to you. You possess certain talents that I don’t, like perhaps cooking skills or personal hygiene.
It is not just our abilities that are unequal; our potential is too. Some people like to say, “You can do anything you want, as long as you put your mind to it.” Bullshit. I will never be as smart as Albert Einstein, no matter how hard I study. Neither will you. I will never be as strong as Arnold Schwarzenegger, no matter how hard I train. Neither will you. We all have unequal natural talents, so let’s stop ignoring this fact and irresponsibly proclaiming that we are all “equal” or that we can all accomplish the same things. We can’t. We are all unique, and it is precisely our uniqueness that makes us unequal.
The concept of equality is just a ruse to make inferior people feel less inferior. Some people excel in sports, or academics, or business. This means that other people don’t excel. If everyone excelled, no one would excel, because we’d all accomplish the same things. In any group you have a few outstanding people and a whole bunch of also-rans. To gloss over this and call the weakest, stupidest, and laziest people “equal” is just one more way in which we are turning everyone into pussies. The underachievers need to be told that they’re not achieving, because as long as they don’t realize what losers they are, they will continue to underachieve.
You know, everything I just said should be so obvious that I shouldn't have to write it. I don't think that I'm somehow smarter than 98% of humanity. I think I'm just more honest. Of course, it's easy to speak one's mind when you do it anonymously on the Internet. In fact, since you don't know who I am, I think I'll go jack off now.
It seems that we have lost sight of what equality means.
Equality does not mean equal property (money, jobs, housing, possessions). These things are to be worked for or inherited. Different lineages and personal choices mean that wealth will be distributed unevenly. To forcibly take a portion of one person’s wealth and give it to another merely because the former person earned or inherited more, or to give a person a job merely because his ancestors were oppressed, goes directly against the idea of equality. Yet this is what the government does by taxing us and imposing quotas that force companies to give jobs to minorities who are not nearly qualified.
Equality does not mean equal talents. I cannot sing like David Lee Roth. Neither can you. I cannot fight like Mike Tyson. Neither can you. I am not as good-looking as Mel Gibson (or even Henry Gibson). I am not equal to you. You possess certain talents that I don’t, like perhaps cooking skills or personal hygiene.
It is not just our abilities that are unequal; our potential is too. Some people like to say, “You can do anything you want, as long as you put your mind to it.” Bullshit. I will never be as smart as Albert Einstein, no matter how hard I study. Neither will you. I will never be as strong as Arnold Schwarzenegger, no matter how hard I train. Neither will you. We all have unequal natural talents, so let’s stop ignoring this fact and irresponsibly proclaiming that we are all “equal” or that we can all accomplish the same things. We can’t. We are all unique, and it is precisely our uniqueness that makes us unequal.
The concept of equality is just a ruse to make inferior people feel less inferior. Some people excel in sports, or academics, or business. This means that other people don’t excel. If everyone excelled, no one would excel, because we’d all accomplish the same things. In any group you have a few outstanding people and a whole bunch of also-rans. To gloss over this and call the weakest, stupidest, and laziest people “equal” is just one more way in which we are turning everyone into pussies. The underachievers need to be told that they’re not achieving, because as long as they don’t realize what losers they are, they will continue to underachieve.
You know, everything I just said should be so obvious that I shouldn't have to write it. I don't think that I'm somehow smarter than 98% of humanity. I think I'm just more honest. Of course, it's easy to speak one's mind when you do it anonymously on the Internet. In fact, since you don't know who I am, I think I'll go jack off now.
