reply to post by halfoldman
Hi. Thanks for the reply.
Re. Paris Hilton - I don't disagree. But this isn't the issue, really, and is why I said 'forget the oligarchy' just for now. I was referring
to why the principles of equality under the law, and equal opportunity, represent progress from the past. A system of merit is surely superior to a
system of privilege.
Re. upliftment. I'm not entirely opposed to this idea. I mean, let's be real - sometimes, a redistribution of wealth is the only logical and
sensible path. If you have a situation of extreme imbalance in terms of wealth distribution, what good is an 'equal' shot to succeed if the playing
field is in fact completely tilted? Even if you suddenly 'free' an historically repressed population, the previous rulers still often hold so much
wealth that the former can never lift itself up to any kind of decent standard of living. And when this is the case, I fully favor a little Robin
Hood action. Hoarding is not a right - it is an abomination. There's a balance to be struck here somewhere. You are correct that we can not all
ever live like the rich do, but that doesn't have to be the name of the game. I think people understand that concept, and people I know in more
socialist nations seem to get it and roll with it just fine. We don't want to BE thieves - we just don't want to have to compete with them.
Re. South Africa. You'll have to educate me here. I know next to nothing about what's happening on this issue. I know there was some beef over
land redistribution, and some trouble with the new occupants not having the skills or tools to make the land productive enough... but I don't know
anything about how white males are disadvantaged per say. Can you fill me in?
Re. special interest groups. I sympathize. Makes me uncomfortable too. I'm such a hybrid of nationalities that I feel no particular ethnic
identity, despite being very white, and almost entirely European. I have mixed feelings about things like "pride" parades, be they for gays,
hispanics, or anyone else. I understand why these kinds of race groups came to exist (I believe survival had more than a little to do with it), but
since I don't have a team, I kind of feel left out of the party. I feel just as uncomfortable with 'black power' as I do with 'white power'. I
just want people to be people, even if that's naive in this period in time. I suppose I also have the privilege of living in a place where I am in
the color-majority, and don't having to think about it much. Black people in my town down have that luxury, and yes, they do get treated with
mistrust. Sucks.
Anyhow. Equality can mean many, many things. We can't let the post-modernists ruin such an historically profound concept by being egg-headed about
it.
Thanks.