Perverting "Equality"

Equal rights! Equal rights!
Those who are at a disadvantage should get special help!
Everything must be fair.

We can all agree slavery is evil. No one should be forced to act behind the barrel of a gun. Life, liberty, property - these are the rights every person must have equal protection of. However, our culture and media are always debating 'equal rights' issues. At what point does it all go too far?

I've heard women at work argue that females need to be promoted in the workplace. I've heard complaints about our 'male-dominated society'. Are these accusations true? Let's not forget: men have a penis, and women have a vagina. Testosterone pumps through the hearts of aggro-macho-competitive males, shortening their lifespan. Men are tuned to compete harder, in order to acquire the power and resources that attract females. Sure there will be Joan of Arcs and Hillary Clintons in the world - but women, by nature, will never be equal in status and power to men on average. If equality is forced by regulation based on guilt and ideals, we'll suffer negative social consequences. Let there be inequality. It's natural.

What about minorities? There are many racist people in the world. Regulations like "affirmative action" have been sought by minorities to make things more fair. However, who really gets hurt when a business hires a less qualified person based on racism? The business only hurts itself. What explains the fact that most I.T. departments employ many eastern Indians? These 'colored' people didn't get the job by affirmative action, but by being highly skilled and industrious workers. Affirmative Action, like rent controls or subsidies, create an economic 'dead weight-loss' where everybody loses.

Today the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, restricting marriage to be between a man and woman. I'm not going to preach on that. I've already voiced my thoughts on Prop 8 aftermath.

Today, the Court said:
"Proposition 8 does not by any means "repeal" or "strip" gay individuals or same-sex couples of the very significant substantive protections afforded by the state equal protection clause either with regard to the fundamental rights of privacy and due process or in any other area, again with the sole exception of access to the designation of "marriage" to describe their relationship."

Again, we had a minority group whining "no fair" that they didn't have equal rights. They don't really care about the fact that 'civil unions' are the same as marriage, and they don't even want to fight that fight. They want the word "marriage", and nothing less, claiming they are 'separate but equal'. The gay/straight-marriage-equality debate is invalidated with the same dose of reality as the male/female-equality debate: biology & nature. When two things are not the same, they shouldn't necessarily be treated the same. Penis-vagina. Let the Boy Scouts keep the girls out & vice-versa.

Perverting "equality" is what this all comes down to. American culture is infected with an ugly sense of victimization and entitlement. When any group is hurt by circumstances or jealous of another group, their first course of action is to cry "no fair" to the Nanny-State, which adjusts the rules until the whiner is appeased. The loser in the race always cries that the winner cheated. We correct government meddling with more meddling. We fight the wrong fights and ask the wrong questions, because no one ever asks "What is government's proper role?" Sadly, most Americans think it's ridiculous to ask: "Shouldn't government just stay out of marriage in the first place?" We're so caught up in twisting the system in our favor, that most of us forget what the system is supposed to be: protector of rights, not granter of rights.

Comments

Jason Orta said…
Granted, there are types of inequality that can't be controlled- some of us are born with more athletic skills or some of us are born with better looks. We can't all be as good at football or be as good looking as your average supermodel. And government can't correct that. However, some inequality is man-made, and wrong and not allowing gay people to marry someone of the same gender is one of those examples. There is definitely some bigotry and hatefulness among opponents of gay marriage. One may not want to socialize with gays or people of color but gays should have the same ability to enter into the same legal arrangements as heterosexuals. Equality under the law is enshrined in the Constitution and it basically states that we are all are treated the same way under the law. That may not happen with our bosses, or with dating, or anywhere else but law should treat all the same.
Steve V said…
Oh man, I just debated Prop 8 with some people on Yelp for a day.

My opinion on that is: government shouldn't be involved in "marriage" in the first place. Call those contracts "civil unions", and everybody wins.

Letting a minority redefine an word like "marriage", which is deeply rooted in social/religious/cultural heritage... is also a violation of rights.