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What is true equality
Effects of inequality in society
Kurt vonnegut equality
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According to the dictionary, equality, is when the apportionment of resources or goods among the people is considered fair. A lot of people would agree with this definition, but a lot of them would say that equality does not exist. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal” (Vonnegut 1). When Honroe de Balzac said, “equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on Earth can ever turn it into a fact,” it shows that true equality doesn’t exist, it is a fantasy. In The Hunger Games, Harrison Bergeron, and The Lottery you can see how equality is being carried out in a very inhumane way. I believe that true equality will exist when everybody is treated equal, no matter what race, religion, or sex they are.
In The Hunger Games, the reaping system is considered equal but is actually flawed. When the children of District 12 (or any of the other Districts) decide to have their name put in more than once in exchange for tesserae—a meager year’s supply of grain and oil for one person—because their families are starving. This isn’t equal because when you get extra tesserae you get enough for the whole family, meaning your name goes in the reaping choosing pile more times. Like Katniss, she gets enough tesserae for her mother and her sister Primrose, her name goes in that many more times. Also, there are 12 Districts and the Capitol. The higher number of the district (i.e. District 1-3), the wealthier that district is. The wealthiest is the Capitol where they are shining in money, jewels, food, etc. Also, when the author talks about how Katniss and her best friend Gale like to go into the woods past the gate surrounding District 12, she goes to find her bow. Nobody is allowed to have weapons of any sort, besides the Pea...
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...it is shown throughout the story. Listed above are all of the reasons why I believe that equality is not shown throughout The Lottery.
I agree that true equality will exist when everybody is treated equal, no matter what race, religion, or sex they are. Equality does not exist when people are being punished for how pretty they are, how smart they are, what race or religion they are, etc. If people could learn to stop judging everything they believe to be not normal and just accept people for who they truly are, then I believe that this country would have a chance at true equality. No matter how much effort people put into changing the way people are treated, there is always going to be somebody who is against the rules, meaning, there will never be true equality, but you can come close to it if a majority of the citizens could learn to stop judging people.
Equality appears to be the ideal factor that can perfect a society. It eliminates the need to feel envious of any human or their qualities. Nevertheless, with impartiality comes lack of diversity and ambition. Inequality is the entity that provides individuals with the passion to strive for a better life. If everyone has already reached their full potential there is no purpose for living.
Is there such a thing as equality? Can you truly look at a person and say they are your equal, or are we too judgmental? No, as humans we are doomed to see the flaws in others and ourselves. The only way to truly have equality is to either have perfection, or to discard individuality all together. Seeing flaws is the only way to improve both ourselves, and others. To have equality is to sacrifice progress. Someone has to be the weak one. Without weakness there is no basis for strength. Without flaws there is no preference, and without preference there is no love. Life would become shallow and unfulfilling. Humanity needs someone to love and someone to hate.
Equality is not something we get to have when we come into this world. It is something that is being fought for and will continue to fight for as long as people think of themselves and do not think of the consequences that may occur from their own actions. In the book “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt” by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco they narrowed in on what structural violence is. The different examples of injustices that were occurring around the countries. Lastly explains the ways the oppressed used there actions, words, and ideas to fight the injustices. Injustices are all around world many of which still have a lot of control to this day and take a toll on the less able. Allowing large corporations to dictate what will be said and done.
In society rules are made so no one gets hurt and so that there is a standard of living we can all abide by; however, in The Hunger Games and “The Lottery” the rules are set to do the opposite. The rules made by “the game makers” are in place to cause chaos, death, and fear among the citizens in both stories. A rule of significance in each story is that everyone must be present for the “reaping.” Although each story has different reasons as to why everyone must be present the consequences are implied to be the same. In The Hunger Games the accumulation of potential tributes serves two purposes. The main purpose of gathering everyone and putting them in a small area is that the Capitol thrives off of power. The most evident example of the Capitol’s thirst for power is when Katness Everdeen mocks the Capitol by saying; “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you” (Collins, 19). By herding everyone into a small area it shows that the people in the Districts have no power and are merely lambs to the slaughter in the Capitol’s eyes. The second purpose being that the hunger games reaping serves as a census for the Capitol. Before the children are lined up in front of the stage they are counted, inspected, and sorted according to age then all the information the peacekeepers collect go to the Capitol. The only excuse for missing the “reaping” is said bluntly by Everdeen: “attendance is mandatory unless you are at death’s door” (Collins, 16). If ...
In The Hunger Games, the inequality between the rich and the poor is the biggest theme presented in the book. Throughout the book, Katniss mentions that starvation is common in District 12, and she has often gone hunting illegally in the woods for food for her family. This is an example of how the rich and the poor are separated. Wealth is only centralized in the hands of the rich, while the poor are left to starve, leaving disparity. The best examples of the inequality between the rich and the poor is seen in the tessera system, and the way the tributes are selected for the games. In the novel, they have what is called “the reaping”, which is the lottery at which they choose the tributes for the games. It is said in the book that the poor is more likely to be picked than the rich are. In the tessera system, children
The movie The Hunger Games, originally based on a book by Suzanne Collins, is about a place called Panem, which is ruled by the Capitol and has 12 districts within it. These 12 districts are separated founded on their economic statuses, meaning the higher the district, the more impoverished the residents are. There are 2 tributes that are chosen to participate, forcibly, in The Hunger Games each year. Each competitor is instructed to eliminate one another in order to survive and come out on top. There is only one tribute allowed to come out of the arena alive. Katniss lives in District 12, which is the most impoverished district of them all, and she volunteers as tribute in “the Reaping” when her sister is chosen to participate. She and the other tribute from her district, Peeta, make it into the arena with the hopes that one of them comes out the winner and above all else, alive (Ross, 2012). I will refrain from going any further just in case you have not read the book or have not seen the movie. In terms of soci...
In the United States, true equality has never existed. From the Declaration of Independence to modern times, the US legal system has failed at any attempt at equality. ‘...all men are created equal...’ may be what the Declaration says, but ‘some men are more equal than others’ is how the legal system really interprets that phrase. The actual reality of the Declaration of Independence is that all free, white, landowning men are created equal. Therefore, inequality has always existed in the united States’ legal system and continues to exist today; however, the inequality presently in the system is not as blatant as what it once was. Slavery continued in the United States for nearly ninety years after the Declaration, and African Americans still feel the sting of inequality today.
So in conclusion are all men created equal yes but no, created equal but they are not treated equal they are treated the way , that social class accepts them, to be treated and how they portray they are treated. If your poor your treated less than equal to the rich, and vice versa. The way you are treated is determined on your social class. So yes everyone is created equal but not treated equal.
You walk the same walk, talk the same talk, and think the same thoughts. No one is different. In fact, there is no “one” of anything. Equality is a very undefined topic that has many unanswered questions. I want to shed a little bit of light on it. To me, equality is a concept that we all strive for, of being the same as everyone, and fitting in. There’s deeper meaning than meets the eye about equality. This idea robs us of freedom, but we still use this collective idea as individuals to fit in, have friends, and be happy because we are willing to sacrifice some freedom for happiness. Equality can never fully take control of a society either because societies that work very well are the ones that use a little bit of collective and individualistic ideas. It’s only a matter of
This has been demonstrated most prominently through the lives of African Americans and the corresponding Civil Rights movement. As many of these societal problems have been settled over time, problematic issues still arise today. In John Szwed’s book, Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra, he addresses this concept of equality. He writes, “Equality is another false goal. There is no equality in nature, no democracy, only hierarchy, where you are judged by your quality. Music is not based on equality-the chords and notes are all different. Equality means nothing to God: everyone he sent here is unique. I have to rise above liberty and freedom and equality” (Szwed 310). This is significant because addressing this prevailing issue is very prevalent in creating a utopia. However, the subject of equality in our specific utopia evolves specific to the issue of what it looks like to live a “healthy lifestyle” in relation to each individual. While one person may have their own vision of what living a healthy lifestyle looks like, another person may have a different perspective. Because of this, I agree with Szwed in that true equality is a false goal. We are all different individuals with our own bodies that function in their own special way. What may be healthy for one, may not work for another. There is no set standard for equality in living a healthy
Many people have fought for equality, over many centuries. The basis of inequality is a lack of freedoms. These freedoms are either on an individual basis or on a group basis. Today not many people would argue against allowing women to vote, or allowing different races to eat in the same restaurant. However at a fundamental level is equality dangerous? Can a world like that illustrated in the story “Harrison Bergeron” from Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut become a reality? Can freedom and equality become detrimental to society? Essentially can equality be taken to an extreme that leads to the loss of freedom? To all of these questions the answer is yes. Equality is directly opposed to freedom. However equality is also essential for freedom. Equality and freedom are symbiotic ideas. Parasites that feed off of and destroy the basic building blocks of the other yet cannot live without the other.
In the book The Hunger Games, the social class system set up by the Capitol causes people to be treated very unfairly based on where they are born. The majority of the plot is based around the fact that this society is built on social classes. The population is broken into 13 districts that determine people’s wealth and jobs. There is the Capitol then the remaining 12 districts are numbered 1 through 12. Each of these district is responsible for the production of a certain item. Districts 1 through 4 are wealthy and produce mostly electronics and luxury goods. From there the districts start to get worse and worse all the way down to District 12. In this society, the Capitol has all the power and the money. This gives them complete control over the lives of all the people isolated in their districts.
Equality is important in order to keep peace within a society without it everything would be corrupt and chaotic. People should not be discriminated for things that they cannot control. For example, when a male and a female apply for the same job, they should be judged on their work ethic, not their sex. There are differences towards different people however; in order to live in a peaceful country we must put our differences aside. We shouldn’t be treating people differently because of our differences instead we should be treating everyone equally considering that we are all different and no two people are the same. Their outside appearance should not be accounted for anything; their personality
My definition for inequality is oppression & prejudice from discrimination and other’s belief. In all honesty, I had never thought about a distinct recollection of the two and considered that all people are equal. Being biased (prejudice) oppression is when the system develops a community that works against the specified social class of society. In a way where specific advantages are favored to certain races and sexes. Don’t get me wrong people are designed to compete because no matter how hard you try to be as good as that person you can never be exactly like that person you can either be worse or better. As much as I would like to see the world a better place. It is expected that there will be inequalities, just like it is inevitable that
Equality is a concept mankind never is able to grasp correctly. Of course humans will always search for different solutions to create fairness, but factors such as human greed, ignorance of mass populations, and even biological aspects stagnates the process of equality. The oldest and most relevant discussion on equality lies with the difference of sex; man versus woman. Initially, men, because of their physical superiority, were given the prospects many women never even dreamt to have. Conversely, as time has progressed, women have fought this unfair treatment with demands of suffrage and similar rights to those of their male equivalents. Greatly enough, this generation has done an exceptional job in the challenge of overcoming sexism and inequality. However, will this search for equality ever end? When can we say we have created an equal race of men and women? The fact of the matter is that it is truly impossible to have equality between the sexes because of predisposed circumstances that are not easily controllable in the slightest bit.