Where did this notion that “all are equal” come from? I realize “The Declaration of Independence” states,
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.
In my interpretation of this document, the writer’s are not talking of equality in the sense of “ability and birth” but in a philosophical sense – independent people should have no other obstacle hindering their pursuit happiness than what natural law has ordained; there is equality in the pursuit not in the person(s). As the writer’s make a very un-Politically Correct comment later on in the document referring to the Native American’s as Indian Savages:
He (King of England) has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
If equality was attributed to all, they would certainly not have had this language in the document, rather it seemed they believed in the equality of rights and but not in the impartial treatment of the lesser, whether that be in education, status, race, et cetera…
It seems that this stance on equality was made in a idealistic sense of meritocracy, which can be defined as the following: A meritocracy is a society ruled by an influential class of educated or skilled people; a Government selected on the basis of ability.
If all things were truly equal, except of birth and ability, one would suppose that we are perfect in our meritocracy… only the brightest and the best rise to the level of “successful leader” and a select few of these reach a demi-god status to the masses, as one’s in which to worship and emulate (ie: MJ, Lebron, Jobs, Bill Gates, Tiger, et cetera).
But we are not truly meritocratic, reality comes into play, unveiling the fallacy of equality, “everyone deserves the success or failure that they receive, ie: best always rise to the top and worst always fall to the bottom.” As many of us can attest the best do not always surface at the top and the worst are not destined to settle on the bottom.
It seems there is a third element in the equation that we are forgetting, a factor that can bring dreams crashing to the ground and dash hopes against the wall… that is the uncontrollable element of circumstance.
I’m sure you can attest to times in your own life that a person of heightened ability and deep pockets, whose world was their oyster, suddenly fell out of the world’s graces – not out of their own doing but out of a circumstance, either an economic disaster or a subtle shift in popularity or trend.
It seems the world is not as equal as we desire, nor is it as meritocratic as our logic would surmise. No, the life we live is as unpredictable as our station of birth (you cannot pick who your parents are). In this existence, a son of a pauper can become a leader of nations, and a son of a king can flounder in his inadequacy to play the role.
True equality is nothing more than a fallacy or at best an idealistic proposition?
What I mean is because of our predetermined natural ability and station of birth, we all start above or below the average – we are not born of equal status, nor are we born of equal ability. Nonetheless, it is required of us “Under God” to treat the lesser with impartiality and the oppressor with parity, never forgetting our liberty as individuals, specifically, the right to pursue betterment in our lives and in the lives of others. Thus bringing equality to it’s proper station, filtered through the fire of truth and justice.
