In this day and age, everyone is pushing for equality.
“All men are created equal” is used to back every argument.
However, these words from our Founding Fathers have been misinterpreted.
They did not mean every man was born with the same intellectual, physical or social abilities. So no, we do not want equality. We would much rather equal opportunity.
We have been in such a rush to eliminate any type of discrimination, which I agree with, but in that rush we have also lost the true value of an individual’s talent and excellence.
If we were all equal, there would be no reason to work hard in order to be better than your competition. If nobody strives to be better, how are we to grow individually or as a society?
Nobody wants to be equal, but everyone deserves the chance to be the best.
With equality comes same pay, same quality of life and no hopes in ever progressing. By asking for equality, we are asking for equal outcome.
That is just asking for communism.
However, with equal opportunity you can run with it and be better than your competition and change the game.
You could be the one to get the promotion, be able to do the things you want to do and check things off the bucket list. It holds true to our democracy.
As a society we do not want everyone to function on the same plane.
We need the diversity of intellect and natural skill in order to thrive.
If we don’t take advantage of allowing people to reach their full potential, then we lose any future Steve Jobs, Warren Buffets or Bill Gates.
Equal opportunity focuses on the individual. By attempting to give everyone the same opportunity, in turn, everyone is treated equally.
For example, everyone has the same opportunity to play basketball like Michael Jordan, but not everyone has the physical ability equal to his.
Obviously not everyone has the same skills or qualifications.
This is not to be confused with simply not meeting the standards.
Encouraging Americans to flourish and be successful and create better opportunities is a much more achievable goal than equal outcomes and, not to mention, a much more enticing one.
The views expressed in columns do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Auburn Plainsman.
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