"Equality, you keep using that word..."

(Loving nod to The Princess Bride for the title to this rant.)

     "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.  That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights..."

     Now anyone with even a smidgen of education knows those words.  One of the most basic tenets of our way of live which were framed so well centuries ago.  It one of the strongest ideals ever framed by man and one that still rings out long after the man who wrote it died.  It is the ideal that most people cling to and point to with pride.  And like most ideals, the reality falls far short of the dream.

     Now ignore the fact that "All Men" meant literally all Men and also only meant all White Men.   Ignore the fact that even after other races and women were included, their equality tended to be a lot less equal.  Let us just look at the basic ideal and how the reality falls far short of the ideal.

     The idea that everyone is equal regardless of race, sex or social standing is a marvelous, utopian concept and much like most Utopian concepts (Believe it or not Socialism and Communism are included in those.) something is lost in the mix when you throw in Human Beings.  In this case, the plain and simple fact is that all people are not created equal.

     First we can take the actual "created" side of the coin.  Everyone is not born equal to everyone else.  Some are smarter than others.  Some are stronger, faster or just plain healthier than others.  If you'd like, some are more attractive than others.  We are not created as clones of each other.  

     Now I can hear you thinking, "Hold on now, that is not what they meant when they talked about all men being equal.  They were speaking in terms of rights and freedoms and liberties."  (Yes I can actually hear you thinking, and you the guy in the third row.  YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!)  Ahem, where was I?

     In a sense, your argument is correct.  The ideal behind those mighty words is fantastic.  Every person born is equal to every other person born with the same rights and privileges.  In the eyes of the law, everyone is equal no matter how powerful or rich they are.  However, anyone who reads the news or listens to the news knows that everyone is not equal.  

      If a poor or even lower class person is caught committing a crime, (Lets just say Illicit Hamster Smuggling for gits and shiggles.) they generally are given a Public Defender who may or may not be able to get them aquitted of the crime.  If they are convicted of 3rd degree Hamster Smuggling, they tend to go to jail.  

     Now lets take someone who is rich and powerful.  We'll call her Chintzy Moreham.  Chintzy is very famous and very wealthy.  She also has a crap load of money.  Now Miss Moreham is not only guilty of IHS, she is also guilty of letting Drunken Hamsters drive her car and also guilty of stealing expensive Hamster jewelry.  Chintzy hires the best lawyers money can buy to defend her.  Even when she is actually convicted of her crimes, she receives what is essentially a slap on her wrist.  Even more amazing, when she is caught committing the same crimes all over again she still only gets a laughable punishment.

     Everyone is not equal.  People with money and power have more "rights" than people who do not.  Like most grand ideas, philosophy falls far short when it encounters the reality of human nature.  

End of Rant