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I submit that complete equality is impossible, either naturally or through government intervention.
With everyone being an individual with varying talents, skills, levels of competence, and motivation, economic and social equality can never be realized. When government gets involved with their ever-present redistribution of wealth programs, it merely reduces the quality of life for everyone. Those who earn more, for whatever reason, have to reduce their standard of living in proportion to the amount taken for support of those who earn less (plus the amount taken to "administer" these programs), and those who are supported become dependent on this welfare. Once dependent they are no longer free, they are forced to remain right at the poverty level or lose the welfare.
The one area where equality is a must is equality under the law. A system of just law and equal enforcement that applies to everyone regardless of his or her station in life is a prerequisite for any society to prosper.
Just law is law that punishes injustice, any law that does not do this should be removed immediately, as it is disruptive and can and will be used by those who would subvert our country to their own ends. An example of an un-just law is one that takes from one by force and gives to another. If I as an individual cannot justly take what someone has and give it to another, then government cannot justly do it either.
Equal and impartial enforcement is just as important. If one segment of a society were to be above the law, that segment will sooner or later become the rulers, and everyone else slaves. In reality, totally equal and impartial justice has never been achieved due to human nature being what it is. Never the less, it is a worthy goal to strive for and should be pursued at every opportunity.
One of the problems with our current legal system is the abandonment of principle and the reliance on case law. Under case law, precedents set in similar cases are used. Precedents are dangerous in that each of us is an individual, equal under the law and have a right to be judged individually under our own circumstances. Precedents tend to group people, eliminating the individualism.
I believe the abandonment of principle is due to the fact that our laws are based on Biblical principles, and there are many who wish to see this nation totally secular, or have any religion other than Christianity become dominant. Our Judeo-Christian heritage is one of individual freedom and the corresponding responsibility, which makes it difficult for those who wish to rule. A decentralized governing structure with the majority of power at the local level makes it impossible to rule large areas, and a free and independent people make ruling even small areas difficult.
We must start taking back the power from the State and Federal level, and taking the responsibility for our own lives back from the government at all levels. This includes the responsibility for our own actions. The freedom to succeed is also the freedom to fail. An honorable person will take responsibility for their own failure, learn from it and try again. Those who would have government guarantee their success will guarantee we will all become slaves.
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Pat Baska
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