this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2025
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Unpopular Opinion

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Firstly, let me explain that I don't mean this in a way that society keeps us unequal and it needs to be fixed. I mean this in a way that we are not all equal and that's the way it's supposed to be. We are individuals for a reason, because we are not the same as everybody else. This is what gives us uniqueness.

Some people are faster, some people are smarter, some are braver, richer, poorer, more competent, better in certain fields, and worse in others. This doesn't mean person A is better overall as a human being than person B just because they're more talented at some random skill.

However, it does mean they aren't the same and thus not equal in their ability. When there's a competition, everyone doesn't come in first place because someone is the winner of the competition. This can be applied to real life applications, and situations as well. To think we're all equal is a very dangerous thing.

The delusion of thinking equality exists, creates conformity, and we all become part of a group think. No one does anything different. No one has uniqueness. No one has individual identity. I'm not going to go into extreme detail how this ruins society just look around you.

Society isn't worse off when we understand that equality is a falsehood. It is worse off when we give the false pretense that equality is a real thing. The person that trains to be the fastest runner cannot be categorized in the same group as someone who is lazy and doesn't even like to go on walks, who is slow.

It is by that person's effort, determination, their dedication and devotion to their training, their exercise, practice, or growth that they are superior, not equal to that person who is lazy and slothful. (The runner example can be used for any example that it is applicable to. There doesn't have to be physicality involved.

We are all human but we are not all equal. Sometimes people are better. Sometimes people are worse. And that's perfectly fine.

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[–] henchmannumber3@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Is there a particular declaration of equality that you're arguing against? I don't know that I encounter a lot of people who would disagree with your assertion that we're not equal in ability or traits. That likely seems obvious to a lot of people. When equality is spoken of, I usually find that it's addressed as an ideal relating to treatment and opportunity. Some people espouse that society should treat all people equally, in the idea that we all have the same human rights, that we all have the most commons needs, we're all born and die, etc. And treating each other equally is a generally straightforward way to navigate human relationships.

If you focus on the idea that we're all different as the basis for a value system rather than a factual observation that informs your perceptions, that might lead to some people arguing that being different in some ways means you're "better" as a person and should be treated better and have more rights or privileges or freedoms over other people.

If we're categorizing people based on their top speed, yes, an Olympic athlete is likely "better" in that category than an obese guy who doesn't get much or any exercise. But that category may not be relevant to many people outside of sports and athletic competitions and being better in that category doesn't make you a better person in general. A fast runner could also beat their spouse or murder people or kick puppies or just generally be a sociopath. And an obese person who doesn't get much exercise could be a volunteer worker at a children's cancer ward. So "better" in some categories doesn't mean "better" over all or in categories that others might value.

Have you read Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut? It's a dystopian short story about a future in which the government attempts to make everyone equal by handicapping people with above average abilities. There's also a decent movie adaptation called 2081.

https://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html

https://www.teaching2081.org/

It's a good story, but it's arguing against something that as a society, we don't seem even close to being in danger of. We have large swaths of the population who don't want people to be equal or perceived as equal and they're actively pursuing policies that treat people inequally, especially in regard to civil and human rights.