This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
Will America ever reach equality??
I am a senior in high school, doing an iSearch project. For this project, I need outside sources to voice their opinion about this controversial question. So what do YOU think? Do you think people will ever fully accept everyone regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation? If so, when? Think about it...over time we've freed slaves, got women's right to vote, a black president, does it just take lots of time?
If you answer this, and if your comfortable with sharing, please include your occupation. What made you feel the way you do about this question? Thank you so much everyone!
-Madison
greg dahlen 20+
My occupation is odd jobs, but how does that matter?
Robert Winner 50+
To accept as Edward defined it is completely different that to reconize a same sex marriage. The legal ramifications are massive. What are the factors involved in insurance alone? Medical significance? In law (sodomy is illegal)? In religion?
It is no longer a question of same sex .... but all that goes with it.
No offense to you ... but the youth want instant change to the culture. Change evolves slowly and I think that is a good thing. The baby boomers who were once hippies and wanted to change the world are now part of the establishment.
So along with your paper ... I would suggest that you write your thoughts and a conclusion. Revisit that paper at thirty and again document your thoughts and conclusions ... again at ... you get the idea. The stages of your life will show the differences in your decision making. As a student, young and single, married, employed, a parent ,,, Your values will change with each of these events.
Read the Constitution and how blacks and indians are described as voters. Investigate why the civil war was fought. Why some of the laws and the constitution were changed. Don't just read the cover ... read the book. Ask why.
All the best. Bob
PS: If you go to a liberal site such as this one you will get liberal atheist views. Seek a balance.
John Smith 30+
Back in 2003 the US supreme court ruled that any laws against sodomy are unconstutional, so no, it's not illegal. Religious ramifications are irrelevant in countries with secular constitutions, such as the United States. It basically comes down to the question of whether or not the religious views of a majority (statewide majority, since on a federal level a majority of the population supports gay marriage) can be legal grounds to restrict the personal freedoms of a minority. The answer is, of course, a loud and clear "no", it's just a matter of time before the supreme court makes it official.
John Smith 30+
Yes, but the oppressed minority shifts around: it could very well be that in the future a new group will be legally discriminated against, if only because some power structures (such as organized religion) need a scapegoat group, they could be the poor, artificially created humans or robots.
Barry Palmer 50+
Your use of 'equality' is extremely broad. Individual freedom also means the right to associate with those of my own choosing. If my idea of social equality is not the same as yours, then we might always see each other as promoting social inequality.
Equality can apply to many different areas of society. The USA was founded under the principle of equality before the law, and that should be the bedrock. Supposedly, the law now provides equality in hiring practices, but there is still widespread hiring discrimination by color, sex, age and other attributes irrelevant to job performance.
The enforcement of equality, when applied across all areas of society, is a false value. Rather than extending individual rights it limits individual rights. This is should be a matter of education rather than enforcement.
Will we ever reach full equality? We are headed in that direction, but it will take a great deal of time.before the cultural norm is acceptance rather than division. It is especially difficult to promote acceptance while also promoting competition.
Presumably, you are discussing equality among humans, and still consider other species as inferior.
edward long 100+
Madison Bowman
I'm not saying everyone needs to accept them. (This is just one example) But they should be given the rights to have equal rights as everyone else.
edward long 100+
sterling brewer
John Smith 30+
Such is life in a Representative Republic"
No, that's exactly what a republic is not: a republic has a constitution that gives people basic rights even when a majority of the people opposes them. In a republic you don't get to vote about freedom of expression or freedom of religion and the only reason you get to vote about gay marriage is that existing constitutions all date back many decades or even centuries to a time when their framers were not enlightened enough to support gay rights.
Fritzie Reisner 100+
The reason I think it is useful to take a perspective that looks at other countries as well (though your specific interest is the United States) is that it provides a potentially broader picture of how strategies to promote equality of one kind or another unfold in a place.I also think the stories/cases might be different if you look at places that work toward equality of opportunity than those that aim for equality of outcome.
I think you are right that people, regardless of where they live, are often suspicious of those they consider to be not like them but that many people, with greater familiarity with others, grow to understand the ways in which those who seemed quite different are, in fact, fundamentally the same in many ways. People also often come to recognize and appreciate the different contributions people can make to life because of their uniqueness. Even in a biological strength, the diversity among living things is a strength. In the United States, the various freedoms to speak and write in dissent are an example of institutionalizing the value not just of differences in perspective but in sharing them.
Haley Goranson
Over time this issue has gotten better, but I don't think it will ever go away. There will always be people who don't like or don't have respect for anyone who is different than themselves.
I am a sophomore at Kansas State Univeristy
Gail . 50+
Our entire culture was founded on inequality. To be more precise, it was founded on equality for the wealthy and another equality for (within) the "race of laborers" that Adam Smith (the founder of our cultural/fiscal paradigm) spoke of. It was not founded upon the wealthy being equal to the poor. It was founded upon their being above the poor. It all boils down to $.
In his book, Wealth of Nations, (a canonical text where government and money are concerned) Adam Smith says that for our fiscal (cultural) system to work, the majority of the children of poor people must die from lack of resources that the wealthy have access to. This, he said, is natural law.
Within natural law, the scantiness of subsistence, that's caused by not enough money in the hands of the poor, puts natural limits on the "RACE" of laborers". He states that the greater number of THEIR children MUST die (in the name of the economic system), and the free market will take care of THAT by virtue of the existence of natural law.
When he speaks of the "race of laborers", he was not referring to gender or color or ethnic origins. He was talking about the poor and the middle class. Though his system required poor people, he didn't like the already extant middle class, because they would have a tendency to join together to object, and this would give them too much power, so he believed in keeping an eye and a tight leash on these.
The idea that you can rise above your given station in life is the very idea that keeps the poor enslaved while working to pass laws to help the wealthy. Though for brief periods, some could move up in the ranks, it is nearly impossible today. In the US, it is MUCH harder to do so than in other developed countries.
Poor desiring the status that wealthy hv stratify selves. If U hv no $, then religion (holier) is a + substitute
sterling brewer
Dan Geurin 10+
Ask a person of color if there is equality in this country.