Just a question. Do people desire true absolute equality? Or just equal opportunities.

It's my belief that people do not want true equality because then you loose you're ability to be special. To stand out for good or bad reasons is to not be equal.

i think that people think they desire equality. and i think they do want some form of equality...like having equal opportunities and equal resources to attain those opportunities. but i think what scares people of different races or religions is that if there is true "equality" then they will lose part of what makes them themselves.

For the most part, I dont think we as humans have a need for special treatment we just want equal treatment. We all want equal opportunites... in the classroom, in the workforce, in the home...in the world. Having adequate powers, ability, or means is what sets us in more of a balance. A balance that allows us to appreciate the similarities and diffrences we have with others while at the same time knowing their is a great degree of overall equality.

I think people want and desire true equality. Everyone wants to be treated with the same respect as the other person. However, where the complication comes into play is when something was easy for you to get or do over another person now has become a little bit harder because you are on the same level as the other person. All people want to be treated equal but they do not want to give up things that make them different from another person. I agree with Elyse when she says, “I think what scares people of different races or religions is that if there is true "equality" then they will lose part of what makes them themselves.â€

This must be a fundamental question in education because we keep returning to it, albeit via different words. I remember when Dr. Turner showed a powerpoint slide at the beginning of the semester with just two words: "freedom" and "justice". Now Derrick posts two related words: "absolute equality" and "equal opportunity".

I think either kind of equality is related to freedom and justice. If everyone is free then all opportunities are equally attainable. Similarly, if everyone is equal then we are all judged the same. In other words, affirmative action should be unnecessary and judges should be fair. Neither is the case.

I believe we haven't lived up to the ideals of this nation's Founding Fathers, for example, because they were white men. Perhaps the Founding Fathers simply could not see inequaties and injustice right from the get-go because of the reasons McIntosh lists in White Privilege. As I said on another post, I find an uncritical view of equality and individuality frustrating. Either Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and others were blind or they realized that people do not want absolute equality. In the later case, Elyse hit the problem on its head:



People either do not want true equality, as Derrick said; and like Elyse says, it abolishes their individuality, or people realize that absolute equality is impractical. Call me pessimistic; I believe absolute equality is impractical. Nations like ours, however, idealize this kind of "pure" equality and then citizens, like me, grow frustrated by a history that records gradual progress towards -- and never an attainment of -- the ideal. So I treat equal opportunity as the best kind available to a teacher.

(Religion is, if Elyse will allow me to build on her allusion to religion, one way to transcend the impracticality of absolute equality (for nations). The ideal states of existence promised by religions, like communion with the 'body of Christ', heaven as 'being with God', awakening to the 'true reality of oneness', allow believers to attain absolute equality after being born again, rapture, Nirvana, ... death. That's just my observation but it is a more optimistic opinion than giving up entirely on absolute equality. This nation, however, separates religion from governance so a public teacher could not include this religious ideal in her lessons. Hence, private education.)

I think this is a good question. I think that people would like to think that they want equal opprotunity, but if they actually got everything equal they would not want it. Plus if we were all equal then there would be no uniqueness. I think America would be a very boring place if everyone was Equal. It reminds me of the book, The Giver!! In the end Jonas realized that he could not live a life that way and that is why he left.....

I think this all depends on what your definition of "equality" is. In class, we talked about equality v. sameness. The way I look at it, we all want to be equal, in that we believe we are all of the same importance, the same value, despite race, class, religion, etc. Being "the same" is different--that would be if we all accomplished the same thing, had the same jobs, the same living environments, etc. I don't think most people want that. If the world looks at us as equal humans--in that we are all of the same value and importance--then we should be able to have whatever opportunities we have earned. Unfortunately, much of the world has opinions about which humans are better or worse than others, and this influences whether or not everyone does get the opportunities they deserve.

i agree with you, lillie. being equal is not the same as being the same, to me. it is about your importance and influence and value, not doing everything the same. and a big part of me thinks that now-a-days... we do have a lot of the same opportunities, it's just the level of difficulty in achieving and being able to take advantage of those opportunities.