Are All Men Created Equal?
Are All Men Created Equal?
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. Is that a statement of fact or a political
proposition? It is a political proposition. We can see for ourselves that
people are not equal. They are not equal in height or weight, in intelligence
or ambition, in energy or in the circumstances of their birth. Only
a fool would think that a child born in poverty has an equal chance of succeeding as a child born into a family of great wealth.
Let's look at the context in which that proposition was put forward by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. In his day in Europe, there were two classes of people. There was the aristocracy and there were the commoners. Members of the aristocracy had definite privileges that the commoner could never hope to have.
The privileges of the aristocracy, it is important to note, were granted by the state. The aristocrat was not by nature endowed with any superior qualities. Some of them, in fact, were quite inferior. They were elevated by the laws or the whims of kings, not by nature. So what Jefferson and his comrades were saying is that in America, there will be no aristocracy. The state will not grant privileges to some people and withhold them from others. In other words, all people would be equal before the law.
It is to the great credit of the American people that the struggle to achieve equality before the law continues to this day. Yet it also is important to understand the difference between a political ideal and a fact of nature.
A writer once observed that the characteristic of nature's creation was profusion, not uniformity. Some modern Americans get so confused by the idea of equality that they expect uniform results. It is folly, however, to expect that children with different degrees of intelligence will achieve equal academic results. That is as foolish as expecting every child will be a football or basketball star.
It is folly to expect that men with different amounts of ambition and energy will all achieve the same material success. It is stupid to assert that people with physical handicaps are the equal of people without them. At one time in our history, differences were accepted as natural. I was taught as a child that everyone, regardless of his or her circumstances, was entitled to courtesy
and respect. I was taught as a child that the important factor in a human being was character, not wealth or position. No American should ever fawn over or scorn another human being. Wealth or position does not confer superiority. Poverty does not equate with inferiority. The attempt by some politicians to force equality of results in schools puts an impossible burden
on teachers. The expectations of some parents also put an intolerable burden on some children. Not every child is going to make straight A's. The notion that those interested in vocational or commercial skills are somehow inferior to those who prefer academic subjects is obnoxiously wrong. I've needed many a plumber and electrician, but I've never needed a Ph.D.
©2007 BY KING FEATURES SYNDICATE
Charley Reese is a nationally syndicated columnist whose no-holds-barred
style has won him a host of devoted followers who relish his free-wheeling,
unabashed love of the truth, no matter whose ox is gored. Long associated with The Orlando Sentinel, Reese was formerly active in a variety of state, local and national political endeavors. Write to Charley Reese at P.O. Box 2446, Orlando, Fla. 328
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