We Are Not Equal
We need to come together to celebrate our differences, not draw lines between us because of our differences.
All of the fights for equal rights and equal treatment will succeed.
And when they do, when all the people fighting for their rights finally all and each feel that they have achieved an equal system of society, where they each and all feel they are being treated equally, we will all then be free to remember that gender, or race, or beliefs, or sexual preferences, etc., never really separated us (except in the awful, manufactured, power-hungry, control-freak way society was designed to handle and exploit those details about ourselves and divide us, of course).
We will remember that, in fact, each of these attributes, and all our others, are amazingly intricately layered and inter-connected threads that weave together our individual senses of self; from where we derive our personal needs and thence our own feelings of satisfaction, fair treatment and respect – or not (if we’re the easy going kind of souls who take it as it comes without a care in the world - what a nice compound cliché sentence!)
Anyway, then, hopefully, we will all also remember that all the rest of our nuances – our backgrounds, our experiences, our beliefs, our skills, our thought processes, our fears, our knowledge, our likes and dislikes, our assumptions, how our farts smell, our opinions, etc. – they’re all more specific to any singular person than their given or chosen race, beliefs, gender, sexuality, etc. And hopefully also then we will remember that these personal nuances are just as relevant when considering our needs, actions and behaviours; and probably more interesting when getting to know each other too.
All of the fights for equal rights and equal treatment will, eventually, succeed. I am certain of it.
And when they do (when we all and each finally believe, know and feel that we all and each do have and, in practice receive, equal rights and treatment and outcomes) we will all then be free to remember how beautiful it is that, in truth, we are not equal at all.
Before I go on, I just want to say that when I say “equal rights, treatment and outcomes”, I don’t mean to suggest a one size fits all / fascism masquerading as socialism kind of approach. When I talk about equal rights, treatment and outcomes, I mean that the rights, treatment and outcomes we each receive are defined by and meet our individual needs. In short, for me, equality is when we each get what we each feel we need.
Anyway, I was saying….we are not equal at all.
We are all completely different, amazingly varied, members of beautiful humanity and it is not multiple separate fights for equal gender rights, equal racial rights, equal sexual rights, etc. It is all of this and much, much more. It is a fight we should all be intentionally involved in. It is a fight for all of us to regain the freedom and confidence to value and enjoy the wonder of all of our differences.
But how do we achieve this world where we are free to be exactly who we want to be, and free to enjoy each other for all our differences, in which we do each actually get what we each feel we need?
I think that maybe it starts with everyone realising that, in truth:
We are all different from one another on a singular level and on a group level.
We all and each fit into many of the overlapping groups that feel and experience exploitation and oppression.
Allowing, exploring and celebrating all our differences is deeply interesting and often quite fun; and, most importantly, it raises us all up.
We need to come together to celebrate our differences, not draw lines between us because of our differences.