Equality - do you believe the BS from History?

[MJinZ]

This thread inspired by Sodomy. I know, it's random.

But it is a serious question because I want to know if people here have a reason for believing in one thing or another, or are just brainwashed (even in the "good" way) by education.

Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;[6]"



1) All men are created equal

No, really, we're not.

2) That they are endowed by their Creator

No Mr. Jefferson, the "Creator" didn't make us equals

I won't get into the rest, but these two go hand in hand.

The most salient difference one must understand is being equal and being treated equally.

 

[Ns1]

all men are equal, +/- 4"

 

[her209]

That should read "all white men" at the time of writing since slaves were considered property and women had no voting rights.

 

[rcpratt]

Definitely not.

 

[Ns1]

That should read "all white men" at the time of writing since slaves were considered property and women had no voting rights.

traditional marriage i can believe in

 

[BoomerD]

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS"
- George Orwell, Animal Farm, Ch. 10

 

[MJinZ]

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS"
- George Orwell, Animal Farm, Ch. 10

Excellent.

 

[Proprioceptive]

Just because we were all created equal does not mean some of us didn't squander it.

 

[mugs]

I don't think he meant "equal" in the way you seem to be interpreting it. He did not mean we all have equal abilities or anything like that. He meant that we are not inherently divided into classes of people like in Great Britain (inherited nobility).

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm not a constitutional scholar, but I'll guess he meant equal in the sense of rejecting hereditary nobility, not equal in terms of abilities.

Edit: equal minds think alike

 

[Proprioceptive]

I'm not a constitutional scholar, but I'll guess he meant equal in the sense of rejecting hereditary nobility, not equal in terms of abilities.

Edit: equal minds think alike

This.

 

[brxndxn]

This thread inspired by Sodomy. I know, it's random.

But it is a serious question because I want to know if people here have a reason for believing in one thing or another, or are just brainwashed (even in the "good" way) by education.

Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;[6]"



1) All men are created equal

No, really, we're not.

2) That they are endowed by their Creator

No Mr. Jefferson, the "Creator" didn't make us equals

I won't get into the rest, but these two go hand in hand.

The most salient difference one must understand is being equal and being treated equally.

For #1, the context is based on idealogy. Idealogically, we are all created equal. No one person deserves more rights than another.

For #2, you also have to look at the context. It starts off with 'We hold these truths...' That means "We believe.."

In my opinion, your argument is weak and superfluous. For 223 years, the US Constitution is the foundation and the framework of the most powerful and richest nation in history.. but in 2010, MJinZ on Anandtech has finally found it to be wrong.

 

[her209]

That should read "all white men" at the time of writing since slaves were considered property and women had no voting rights.

I should also add that women could not own property and states only allowed property owners to vote.

 

[MJinZ]

I should also add that women could not own property and states only allowed property owners to vote.

Notice how I never mentioned women in the OP .

My question was more on what people thought of idea of human equality now that's all. I realize that in the context of the time period, it was all about slaves and womenz and basically the good stuff went only to white males.

 

[squirrel dog]

Gee,think all men are equal? Put ten men in your local power company's line gang.2 will make it , 2 will get hurt so bad they have to quit,the rest will get fired for drugs,dwi's,being late for work,or they just stink at work period.

 

[PokerGuy]

The all men are created equal in terms of being endowed with inalienable rights, not that they were created "the same".

Duh.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Interpretation fail. Back to History/PoliSci class with you.

 

[AreaCode707]

They are stating that all "men" (currently interpreted as all people) start out with the same set of rights and that no person inherently possesses more rights than another.

 

[CycloWizard]

I don't think he meant "equal" in the way you seem to be interpreting it. He did not mean we all have equal abilities or anything like that. He meant that we are not inherently divided into classes of people like in Great Britain (inherited nobility).

This.

It's interesting to read about the history of eugenics in the UK (e.g. Ronald Fisher) and see how a lot of studies were beginning to show that people really weren't equal. After WW II, this topic became taboo, but a lot more recent work has shown essentially the same thing. This obviously doesn't mean we should practice eugenics, but it does mean we should be cognizant of the fact that people are different and not everyone is capable of performing equally rather than trying to cram every kid through the same schooling process, for example.

 

[GasX]

being equal in the eyes of the law doesn't mean we have to be fucking commies