On equality

All men were not created equal... some were not even born whole... some were born to parents who were rich, some to parents who were poor... but wherever there is a disadvantage nature creates another advantage, when one cup runs dry nature fills another. To say we are all equal implants false expectations and once our kids grow up and realize we are not in fact all equal, they will feel betrayed. Equality under law, of course, is the bedrock of democratic systems, but it is just that, the right to equal treatment under law and no more. It is far better to teach our kids that life is a crapshoot, to work hard to survive but not to have any expectations that it will end well, only to live in the certainty that it will end and probably sooner than many of us expect, and probably very badly. Maybe then we would have less whining and more, oh what’s the word I’m looking for… reverence for life!

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