declaration of....

This line from the Declaration of Independence is something that unfortunately I have to call bullshit on. (It's talking about men... We all know that some of them are dumber than others) Despite being considered an "immortal declaration," my teachings throughout my biology classes as well as social interactions with my fellow "man" in society have indicated otherwise to this statement.

Even if modern P.C. society forced the committee that is in charge of historical documents to change the wording to "that all people are created equal” the same bullshit feelings I have toward this would still apply. This statement was bullshit when it was first written (remember slaves?) and is still bullshit today. Not all people are created equal. Not all people are created in environments that give them even hope of equality. Not all people have equal views, opinions, lifestyles, incomes, nor intelligence quotients. Equality in a perfected form cannot and will never exist. I am not writing this blog post because I am advocating for inequality, rather I just refuse to believe any notion that equality exists or has the potential to exist by a few minor regulations or legal changes.

The Declaration of Independence is full of powerful rhetoric. It is very symbolic of our freedom and liberty as Americans and is held to be very foundational to this country. While I definitely recognize that our culture and society is FAR from perfect, I still have plenty of pride in being an American, despite the fallacy that I am pointing out in this post. It is really a tragedy that although we strive to give all people equal opportunity, such a thing still does not exist. This is where I fully believe that nature and nurture completely intertwine to determine or at least influence a person’s fate. Being born into poverty, being dealt a shitty hand from the start of the game hurts the “equality” that we are made to believe we have. To counter this, our leaders tell us that regardless of what situation we are born into, we all have “equal opportunity” to succeed if we work hard and make the right decisions, etc. I don’t agree nor disagree with this idea, for it applies in some situations and is irrelevant in others. Despite my conservative background, I can’t help but admit that some people are simply screwed from the beginning, they are born at a disadvantage that holds them back their entire lives. The article by Herndl and Brown illustrates this idea of roles and and identities that are created in regard to environmentalists, I would argue that many people in terms of equality also have certain paradigms that they identify with, and having these associations to fulfill certain roles is what proliferates the inequality in society. As a whole, we also want to reject these roles and pretend they don’t exist so we can all further the belief that everyone is equal and these stereotypes or roles are just a product of closed-minded biogots.

A recent example of an inequality in our society that my friend David brought to my attention is the entire basis of our political system. Currently there is debate on potentially implementing a ranked voting system in the future to give independent candidates a better chance of winning an election. David, who is a flamboyantly gay DFL party member, spoke up at a rally of democrats opposing the idea of the ranked system because it would hurt the chances of a democrat being elected. This completely violates the “equality” that democrats claim to advocate in all their platforms. If our political system obeyed “equality,” there would be more than just 2 groups with strong chances of winning elections.

Another aspect from the reading that I found interesting was the segment on the sense in talking nonsense. This is something that I believe strongly relates to my piece of rhetoric regarding the equality of man. While the article specifically refers to global warming deniers and those who use glittering rhetoric such as “The Resilient Earth” which provokes emotions of hope and whisks away despair for the environmental future, speeches given in the past regarding equality do much of the same. The nonsense about “how far we have come” and “unity” and all other fancy yet meaningless terms for the supposed equality that we have in our society are guilty of spreading nonsense just as much as global warming deniers. It’s a denial or failure to recognize the truth of the situation, which is that inequality is still rampant and we are not a unified, fraternal society.

With regards to word choice, I think “equal opportunity” is a euphemism for affirmative action or other programs aimed at creating artificial “equality.” I think these programs or notions are created by our “leaders” who want to create the façade that America is always striving for equality and has the best society for opportunities for ALL people, when in reality this is far from the truth. While I do think America in general is a much better place to be born, even into poverty, than a lot of places, that fact does not justify the lies and bullshit surrounding this image of perfected equality that gets projected in society often. I believe a lot of the ruling elite truly believe or at least try to convince others that they believe that our society is equal. This is for the purpose of them maintaining power. If we all believe we are equal, why should we question their power? This is dangerous. It gives everyone a feeling of pride in a fallacy. It is a false notion that is comforting, which is often a reason why people believe the ridiculous bullshit that they believe.

I don't believe that certain people are lesser than others. In theory, yes, everyone is “equal” but this is, as science would put it, at STP, which is really not achievable in an environment that implements so many interfering factors. It's an ideal that does not apply in real life, only in theory and in utopia. It is an unfortunate truth that inequality will never be eradicated in our society because it reveals the dismal side to human existence and social interaction as well as all components of society.