Equality: Advantage and Consequence

Equality has never been something that comes easy to us and usually doesn’t come without a price. Many times, there have been great sacrifices by many in order to achieve one common goal. Whether it be women’s suffrage or the black civil rights movements, it took many people to accomplish what they did. But with all differences aside, people as a whole are still not always equal. Although there have been attempts at creating this type of atmosphere, it seems that there are always just enough bumps in the road to throw everything off course. But what are the advantages to this type of society and how significant are they? Is it worth the same struggles that others have gone through for their causes? Or do the consequences simply outweigh the rewards in establishing this type of community? These are the most basic questions needed to dissect some of the problems that some communist communities have run into. They also challenge us to truly think about what it means to be truly equal.

First of all, the advantages of being equal depend on what you think being equal means. What if everyone were to have every necessity and opportunity? The advantages of this type equivalent way of living are much more obvious than any consequences. If everyone were equal, then no one would be in need. In some ways, poverty would be almost nonexistent. Hunger could be extinguished and education could be available to everyone. And perhaps one of the strongest arguments may be that no one has any sort of power over one another. In the book Divergent, social dysfunction arose when a group of people wanted to establish authority over the rest of the population. And this is not just a theory in another fictitious story. This has been the reason for numerous...

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... if your ideas of equivalence drifted to a communist belief, then I would say that there would be many complications with this type of society. It’s sometimes human nature to be a leader, or in some cases, a dictator. I believe that an organized society cannot exist without some form of class rank. So can equality ever be truly reached in this way? But hopefully, we can be equal in the opportunities and rights that we are given.

So is equality worth the consequences and struggles we would pursue to reach it? In some ways it would be, but we would need to keep in mind the dangers that may come in trying. If we could, one day, live in a place where no one is hungry and everyone is sheltered, then we can say that we have grasped a balanced society. But until then, we can only try to provide for everyone, to the best of our ability, in the world that we live in today.