We are not.
Under the Constitution we are of course considered equals and that is the spirit of it and our national character. Or is it?
Originally that was not the case as landowners or those with a certain amount of land only, were allowed to vote.
Baby steps. Over time we added in more more equalities.
Until today, when we have the mistaken belief we are all now equal.
We are not.
We are treated as if we are equal in some outward appearing situations. And we should be. But we should in many cases be more equal than we are.
A white and black man are charged separately in different unrelated locations and situations. The white man gets let off or receives a few months incarceration while the black man gets months or years.
A rich man and a poor man are charged separately in different unrelated locations and situations. The rich man walks, the poor man goes to prison for life, or gets death (seriously, avoid Texas with seven executions so far this year).
It is not the system per se, it is the situation. A rich man can afford better legal defense. A white man appears to be less of a threat. Just as a rich black man appears less of a threat, or a poor white man. Which considering Trump supporters of late, could change that mindset entirely. Not to mention how many white male Christians have been involved in domestic terrorism over that of Muslims, blacks or even the poor in general.
Hidden if not blatant cognitive dissonance in either the Judge, Jury, or the Law itself?
It's wrong. Yet, it happens.
That is not where it is imminently necessary that we should be equals, however.
It is in education or lack thereof and what you do with it. It is in power or lack thereof and what you do with it. Because if we are equal in those two things, all the others fall eventually into place.
An ignorant man wants to feel equal, powerful, and so takes only a little incorrect information from the media, from like people on social media. He will run with it, further spreading incorrect information so others believe and support it. Slander or not, it leaves him thinking how great he is, over that of others who disagree with him.
Under conservative labels if business people are "job creators", a frequent misnomer, then the people they slander are "doers", those who do for us in government. When criticism is accurate it is useful. When it is not, it adds to the burden of those who "do", and who achieve...for us all.
For those who truly are a problem in government or the media, who want to retain and gain more power, more influence, and in so doing knowingly and sometimes even unknowingly, spread more incorrect information to the media, to social media. All in order to, and which affects constituents or potential constituents, to further spread and support disingenuous information in order to stay in public office. Or those in the media may want to spin, even to lie in order to hold onto a position in the media, or to gain a foothold to a higher situation.
It's always about more with these people. When you have a billion dollars or half a billion, or a quarter of a billion, DO you really need more?
These are the kinds of things we've traditionally seen in televangelists. A mindset that has seeped into culture, our government officials.
These people, the citizens spreading lies and spin, the government official doing the same, the media pundit or mogul who works so hard to convey unreality upon what should be an unsuspecting public, to many of whom should know better, these are the people who are unequal and should remain so.
They are not equal to those of us who are not lazy in mind and action, in our research and speech. Who are not ignorant of how to find correct and valid information. Who educate themselves through public or private institutions. Who self-learn and choose good, not poor information to share, and share it.
And so no, we are not all equal. Some of us may well never be equal. But against their best (or worst) intentions, many of us are going to be. Regardless what underhanded tactic they use against us all.
I do wholeheartedly look forward to the day when we are all playing at least, if not with the same toys, within the same playground.
I'll just leave you with this quote from George Orwell's book, 1984:
And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed – if all records told the same tale – then the lie passed into history and became truth. "Who controls the past," ran the Party slogan, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. "Reality control," they called it: in Newspeak, "doublethink." (1.3.18)
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