Human Equality

All mankind was created equal.  Now, the question arises, who made man equal?  Did God make man equal or did man make man equal?  The reason I ask this is because there is this presumption on certain people's part that seems to indicate that man made man equal.   I personally believe that only God created man equally and it is up to us as humans to decide whether or not we will treat one another as equals.   As many people know, mankind throughout most of history, has had individuals or groups of individuals who do not view all mankind as equals.  There have always been those who look down on others, feel that they are of a higher quality than others, and as such deserve more than others do throughout life.  This has been the case since the Romans were in power thousands of years ago to the current day where you will still find groups of people subjugating other groups of people for any number of reasons.  Man has never quite viewed mankind as fully equal despite small pockets of people who adopt that view.  Even looking at this issue from a religious standpoint, there are those within a religious establishment who view others as inferior due to their differing beliefs or actions.  It is an issue that I feel we will never quite get rid of as long as mankind has free will.  This isn't to say there haven't been attempts to get all mankind on the same playing field because there has.  These attempts usually fail however due to that one small fact that I mentioned before, free will.  Just look at most of the socialist, communist, or Utopian societies for an example of how mankind's attempt at equality fail.  Even within our own representative democracy you will find that people are not always treated equally.  There are those aren't afforded equal rights despite the fact that they should.  There are those that are exempt from certain laws while all others are held to those laws.  It is not an equal society. 

The problem that arises with mankind's attempt at large scale attempts to level the playing field in terms of equality is that there always has to be one person or one group of people who make the decisions on behalf of the whole and as such, there is no true equality.  The society's that attempt to bring equality to its citizens usually fails because within that society there are those who feel that they are better than those around them.  Regardless of which society you look at, you will always find at least one person who feels entitled to more than the others.  Often times, as is the case in the United States right now, many people feel entitled to more than they deserve.   Those who are well off feel entitled to the money they earned and don't see why they should share it with anyone.  Those who are poor feel entitled to help from others, regardless of who it may be.  Any attempt to equalize things, either through a socialist government, communist, or whatever, always fails because it is a forced equality.  If every single person within a society that adheres to socialist ideals is not on board, then the society will eventually fail.  Forced equality is not really equality, rather it is a feeble attempt to equalize life while marginalizing certain groups and their feelings.  If man has free will as I am sure that most people agree we have (despite those determinist's out there), then how can we espouse a system that makes everyone equal on all grounds despite the feelings of certain individuals to the contrary.  If we truly want to create a society based upon equality, then it can not come from the government level, it must come from the individual level.  All attempts to force equality fail because you can not force people to change their perceptions on reality.  What we can do is change our own perceptions about those around us, treat each other as equals and hope that by setting the example of equality, we can change the perceptions of others around us. 

Part of the reason I am talking in depth about my views of equality is because in the United States there seems to be a lot of talk about how our current president is slowly turning our society into a socialist one where everyone is being slowly brought to a more even playing field.   Especially in the United States with its incredible diversity of people, you will never get everyone on board to support a socialist society or a government that leans towards socialism.  These systems don't work because they never truly create equality, only a facade of equality.  People will still be marginalized and you will still have those that are seemingly exempt due to their wealth or their status.  Equality must start, as I mentioned, from a personal level.  What we all need to do is inspect our own views of humanity and see if we truly view each other as equals despite appearances, status, income level, etc, etc.  If we find one person or one group of people that we feel differently towards, than we don't honestly view everyone as equals.    Being perfectly honest on my part, there is still a part of me that automatically makes assumptions about certain people and as such, I must say I don't view all humans as equal.  I try my best, but it is a work in progress.  The more we can move ourselves to a mentality of true equality, the bigger impact we can have on those around us in terms of showing how humanity is truly equal.  The best way to spread true equality amongst us is by setting examples.  Mind you, we can't simply turn it on and off, we must adopt equality for ourselves and live it every day.   Then and only then will there be hope of creating a society where everyone is equal, where everyone is provided for because those within a society help each other out.  It can not come from a government or some entity that tries to rule us, it must come from within.  Therefore I say, out with socialism and any form of government that tries to level the playing field.  I say look within first and change yourself.