I've always felt the notion that everyone is supposed to be equal (not "equal under the law", but truly equal in the sense of ability/competence) is one of the most pernicious fallacies a society can embrace.
Committing to a national goal of equality of outcome for all is a sure prescription for ultimate disaster.
This letter was over-written (I know I do tend to that) but illustrates my view of the subject.
To: AV Press
Date: 07/2010
Re: Toward Equality
A most excellent letter from Art Aylesworth pointed out the split that exists in America between those who feel government should work to preserve and promote opportunity for the individual vs. those who instead think government should focus on equalizing “outcome” for everyone.
The short story “Harrison Bergeron”, penned by the late Kurt Vonnegut, exquisitely illustrated the inevitable social cost of the equal outcome for all policy and should be read, or at the very least ‘Googled’, by every voter. In the story, equality was strictly enforced in America by the office of the U.S. Handicapper General.
Public opinion surveys consistently show most Americans feel we are on the wrong course, have ‘lost our Mojo’, but apparently there is little understanding that a primary cause is government’s ever-escalating policy of attempting to create ‘equal outcome’ by handicapping the productive side of society.
Unfortunately for America, an unholy alliance has developed between this widely popular but impossibly utopian notion of creating equal outcome for all and our current ruling party’s obsession with securing for themselves a majority voting base that, through government employment, various transfer payments or simply outright welfare, is unbreakably tied to supporting continuing government largesse as a way of life