No One Really Wants Equality — But Why?

No one really wants equality. Let’s repeat that. No one really wants equality. Hmm, that sounds strange. Let’s try it one more time. No one really wants equality. How can that be true you might ask? It might sound really odd when you think about all the many people and groups who for so many years have been telling us that is exactly what they want. They want equal opportunity, they want equal pay, they want access to education, darn it; they just want equality. But do they really?

Everyone being treated equal sounds really good. In fact it sounds so good; it’s almost sounds utopian — too good to be true. But is that what people really want? Is it what they are really looking for? It might be they like the sound of being treated equal, but when equality is actually given, it’s not really what they wanted or what they were really looking for. To use an oft spoken idiom; it looked good on paper, but in reality — well, not so much.

Oddly there are many individuals and groups who adamantly claim they want to be treated equal, but actually, they want to be treated differently — sometimes very differently than those around them. Despite their continued protest to wanting equal treatment, some people and organizations do not actually want to be treated like everyone else; they seek to be identified, not as part of the group, but apart from the group. They don’t want equal rights; they want special rights.

There are many in this multi-cultural nation who like the sound of being treated equally, who pay lip service to what it really means to be equal, who say they want the nation’s laws to apply equally to all simultaneously, loudly claiming no one person or organization is above the law. But when equality is granted, when the law is equally applied, the truth of wanting to be treated otherwise is often revealed. There are those who feel that while everyone might be called equal, they should be considered, well, just a little “more equal”.

The uncomforting reality for many of these people or organizations is that once they are treated equally, when they are held to the same standard as everyone else, when they are as accountable for their mistakes as is anyone else, they tend to try and break away from the group, afraid to lose the attention they had as the celebrity, as the outsider, or as the victim or plaintiff.

There are many who learn that being treated equally means having to give up or lose their special status, brand, or individual identity once they are just like everyone else. If these people have to pay the same taxes, produce at the same rate as others, if they have to accept the same scores for acceptance into a university or country club, hire people from all walks of life, rent to whomever answers the ad and can pay the rent. Well, many of them might realize equality is not exactly what they had in mind — after all, what is the exclusivity of that venture?

Ask yourself. What people or groups of people are looking for something they claim would bring about equality, that when examined, really points to trying to secure exceptionalism or special privilege? Are there people looking to get special rights, accommodations, funding, permissions, preferred treatment / placement, etc. that are not being afforded to others? Are people or groups you know wanting to be treated special rather than equal? How do you feel about that, and what do you feel should be done about that?