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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Yearning for equality....

Quest for equality has become one of the most predominant virtues of modern society, a founding principle of democracy. The Americans and the French pioneered the idea after great revolutions in their lands. Others followed suit as and when they were able to... that is, when they were able to come out of the clutches of colonialism themselves. But has any society achieved it? More pertinently, is equality achievable at all? Or do we simply need to confine equality to a fixed boundary and leave the rest to, well, nature...

Let me put some questions that come to my mind when I think of equality in a society.
  • Are all new borns equal?
  • Does a government, and its agents, avowed to the principle of equality, act in a manner that befits equality in its letter and spirit?
  • Can the Marxist dream of a classless society ever be achieved?
The answers to these questions should have been in the affirmative but one does not have to be Einstein to see that this is not the case. What is the solution then? Or rather, what is the problem, with the society or with us? Is the idea of equality too utopian for human society to enforce? Or is the ever benevolent Mother Nature against the idea herself?

I will try to ponder over this, as I request anyone reading this blog to ponder as well...

Looking for your comments...

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4 Comments:

Blogger Ashish said...

dude, your last question answers the orginal question!
nature never intended equality. It is just a figment of human imagination -- can never be achieved. Face it, even ignoring materialistic differences, people are not physically or mentally equal.

2:24 AM, June 25, 2006  
Blogger Sachin Sharma said...

I agree with you. And that is what I was trying to impres upon here. The quest for equality is futile. Even so, equality is such a highly rated virtue. Society should, however, be based on the principle of equity of opportunity and not equity of achievement of equal social/economic status.

1:08 AM, June 26, 2006  
Blogger Paramanand said...

Good job sachin. what a marvellous conclusion you have reached. Equity of opportunity and not of achievement. That's what capitalism all about (hope this initiates a debate).

4:37 AM, July 01, 2006  
Blogger Sachin Sharma said...

Thanks Parmanand. Good to know that you liked the article and my ideas.

4:24 AM, July 03, 2006  

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