Equality | The Bigger Picture

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Discussion #10 - Equality

All human beings are 100% of equal worth in the eyes of God, regardless of race, religion, sex, career, status, wealth, health, etc. This is about the only thing on the Facebook page that is not up for debate, it's just a fact. However, in the eyes of our fellow man, this is a very different story. We rate & rank each other's net worth as a human being, on a continuous basis. It can't be prevented, it's our nature. This does not mean that we're evil or shallow, it just means we judge each other based on our abilities, accomplishments & attitudes. Things that represent effort, or show that we're trying to make something of our lives. Choices we make, and our contributions to society, are a big part of why we're here.

Just because there's secretly a little bit of racism, sexism, and elitism in everyone, does NOT make it right (or even intelligent). There's a bit of beast in every one of us, and this fact coupled with our underlying ego combine to create a thirst for a sense of superiority. Unfortunately, it's BS. We are all human beings and therefore we are all of equal significance. We are all going to do our thing on Earth for a few years, possibly reproduce, grow old, and in a relatively short period of time, die. No amount of self-importance is going to do anything to change this.

Many have the view that we basically default to being just a little above the animal kingdom in significance, until we prove to the world otherwise (especially in larger cities). While this elitist view is extremely common, it is completely the opposite to the way that God views us (assuming that we believe in the existence of God). We still have some serious evolving to do in this area, as many genetic aspects of human uniqueness are still regarded as major factors, and it's completely bizarre. Even things like height, hair & eye color, or any other physical variation are still being factored into the equation in a major way.

We're still living like monkeys in many ways. Sperm banks commonly disqualify any donor shorter than 5'10", meanwhile some of the most talented & gifted people in the world are extremely short. We did nothing to deserve our genetics, it's what we do with it that matters. Deep down inside, in many ways, we are still living like primitive animals. I personally am 6 feet tall, which is cool I guess, but who cares? I had nothing to do with it!

Imagine for a minute that we are all under attack by an alien species (not 100% sure they exist, but just humour me for a minute). Let's pretend they are out for world domination, they want (or need) our planet and they want us out of the way (eliminated). We would obviously fight for our survival and be at war with these aliens (who knows, this could be reality some day). In this scenario, the odds of any other conflicts on Earth continuing would be ZERO! We would almost instantly unite globally and become one in our quest to fight off the aliens and survive. Do you see where I'm going with this? Our differences whether they be racial, religious, gender, economic or whatever would instantly become completely irrelevant, as it's all just relative anyway. So, why wait for an alien invasion? Why not unite now? Let's prove it to ourselves that we're not all complete idiots.

Man (& womankind) really do still struggle in a major way with the issue of equality. Very few of us ever stop and think about what's really going on in our subconscious mind. The world is fairly divided on those who prioritize competition and those who prioritize compassion. Oddly enough, there are also many who intensely compete with their show of compassion. Life is a constant struggle to achieve some sense of balance between these two attitudes, along with enjoyment of life and productivity.

The attitude of "survival of the fittest" seems to be the one that is REALLY driving the major issues of modern times, especially economic. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the world's poor are born into their trap of poverty, and thus it's not even close to being a fair fight. They are not really looking for our handouts, what they really want and deserve is a chance to provide for themselves, and have an equal shot in these global games called "survival of the fittest" and "perceived significance" (the most intensely exciting and satisfying games on Earth).

The world could easily provide this for them (tomorrow), for the low, low cost of just 10% of the world's military budget. What a great deal, as the world would still have 90% of it's budget left for crippling, killing, and blowing things up! The crazy thing of it is, the world economy would actually greatly benefit from having all of these extra consumers and taxpayers. The proof is in the pudding. The countries currently with the highest quality of living and HDI (human development index), are almost always the countries with the lowest income and wealth inequality levels. Equality is far more economically viable than inequality, we just need the global gumption to choose this direction.

The best example of this would be a handful of Nordic countries in Europe, where economic equality is actually promoted and largely realized. Interestingly, their economic states and overall quality of life are by far the best in the world. It's a mystery to me, why others are not learning more from these incredibly successful economies.

Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, & Iceland have proven to the world just how profitable human equality can be, and yet the world still resists. The reason is fairly simple, our ego tells us that our ways must naturally be the best ways. Every country has a different way of doing things, and many are quite repulsed by the idea that others may have a better system.

However, when you look at the data through non-filtered, or non-biased lenses, you tend to see the truth. Believe it or not, there are facts and truth out there, we just need to turn down the volume knob on our egos for a bit to see. Not everything is up for debate in this life, even with our beloved new pastime, the internet. The colour red is still indeed red. Our planet is indeed round, not flat.

It shocks me that there are still people out there debating this last fact. We as a species are wasting so much time debating everything, when there is so much that has already been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Sorry flat-Earthers, and climate change deniers, but most of us are just sick & tired of all the pandering to this sort of nonsense. There is a huge difference between freedom of thought & speech, healthy debate, and all of this ego-driven insanity. Elitism, racism, sexism, & narcissism are what's driving much of it.

Ironically, these same countries, (along with New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, and Germany), also have the highest levels of gender equality. (Considerably higher than even the US). While this global situation is generally improving slowly, there are still zero countries on Earth that have achieved total gender equality. Many women and girls are still living in horrifyingly oppressive conditions. This issue, along with eradicating global extreme poverty by 2030, are two of the United Nations' top priorities.

This also proves, that there is an extremely high correlation between overall human equality, and economic prosperity. Treating human beings as equals isn't just a "nice" thing to do, or the right thing to do, it also makes ALL of our lives dramatically better, in every way INCLUDING economic.

For most people, elitism is the reward for achieving success in the game of survival. The vast majority in this situation are having way too much fun to want to give this up, and they don't have to. It's just like in every other aspect of life, it's the extremism that is the problem. When it comes to racism and sexism, it's just purely pockets of people thinking they're vastly superior to other groups of people. This is by far the darkest and most unintelligent side of humanity, as it's completely inaccurate and even if it were true, it's completely out of our control. We did not choose how we were born into this world. With extreme poverty, it's exactly the same situation. Our sense of community needs to extend far beyond our own little pockets of people (our own race, religion, country, etc.), and include everyone in a little community called the human race.

Without trying to sound overly patriotic, I'm extremely proud of my country (Canada), as it's proof positive that all races and religions can live together in extreme peace and harmony. Canada is the most multi-cultural country on Earth, and at the same time enjoys one of the highest quality of life ratings, economic prosperity, and even free universal health care.

Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal are world class cities, with cultural diversity that only a handful of cities in the world possess. Canada's immigration policy has been to seek out the best and the brightest in the world, regardless of country or religion of origin, since the 1970's. This does create a slight "brain drain" effect on these countries, but Canada is small (population-wise), and it does not create a serious problem, as we accept citizens from across the globe (200+ countries). In essence, Canada has been creating a multi-cultural "super-country" that only cares about human effort and talent, and not about how or where we were born into the world. Again, not trying to sound overly patriotic.

Most cruise ships are now also completely international, with both crew and passengers from around the globe enjoying life together in peace and harmony. It makes prior global conflicts, down through the ages, seem pretty ridiculous. Our tribal nature & ego are what make us think that our "tribe" is by far the best & most significant on Earth, but of course, nothing could be further from the reality.

Although many of us in the world have succeeded in being (or have always been) non-racist and/or non-sexist, very few have been able to see past the "mental block" that is elitism, especially when it comes to our "position" in life. The best example of this would probably be my own personal situation. Even though I'm a millionaire with a successful business, I have enough spare time, and currently enjoy driving a school bus part-time. Those who know me well get why I do this, but those who don't simply assume that this somehow puts me much lower on the food chain of human significance.

Luckily however, I simply don't care, because transporting amazing kids safely to & from school is actually now one of the great joys of my life, and something I may just do for the remainder of it. I've already been on a ton of vacations, and seen much of the world. This amazing "retirement job" gives me a sense of purpose & enjoyment, that in many ways outshines gratuitous travel, prestigious or not.

This world would almost instantly become a complete utopia in virtually every way, shape, and form if we were to simply view each other as equal in overall significance. In fact, taking this fact one step further, if we as individuals were to start viewing our fellow humankind this way, our immediate world would instantly begin to become this utopia that so many have only fantasized about.

I'm not suggesting communal living, or some form of similar bizarre economic arrangement, (NOBODY wants that!). Communism is definitely NOT the answer to ANY of our global problems. We all want different things out of life, and have different priorities. Societies should always allow for and encourage these differences. What I AM suggesting, is that we truly believe in overall human equality, that every single human life is equally precious, no matter how "big shot" or "little shot" our lives may seem. In my humble opinion, our view on this is by far the biggest defining aspect of our true character.

Whether you see yourself as being rich, poor, tall, short, young, old, black, white, fat, thin, male, female, gay, straight, healthy, sick, disabled, fully functional, royalty, homeless, a celebrity, a nobody, elite, middle class, or "white trash". All of us, 100% equal in significance.

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