Equality/Diversity

I've always thought skepticism and belief were two sides of the same coin. So it is with diversity and equality.

Inequality is a lot more than a pejorative toward a culture, it is the opposite side of the diversity coin. Diversity is a challenge to the status quo, a threat to the mundane. Perhaps that is why it upsets people, because it is culturally jarring. But it, like its fraternal twin inequality, is the engine of growth, of change. Variety give the culture an option. Sameness is static.

Americans believe in the consent of the governed. You are not just equal before the law, you are equal to cast a vote on those who would lead. A new citizen is exactly like an old and your cultural value is a given and is shared. Conformity is not a prerequisite. That is a profound equality. But for many--especially the Europeans--that is not enough. There is an element in the West that sees diversity and inequality not as part of the process in a culture but as a result of the decision, the judgment of history. Those that are unequal are not participants but, instead, have been defeated and are in need of rescue.

So the real question in the drive for equality is which distinctions--and freedoms-- to suppress.