Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t you actually arguing that they have their right to their absurd views, and what’s more, that you will defend their freedom to express their absurd views?
How would you feel about being asked to defend the right to say men and women are false constructs? Would you defend their right to the death? Or do you think that’s just something people say in the heat of the moment?
You nailed it with this article. Unfortunately, college students are being brainwashed by professors like him. We need to have more students like you challenging these ideas. I have a neighbor who was born and raised in Cuba. He shares the sentiments of your classmate from Russia. Keep up the great work.
The problem with your argument is that it's too black and white. While I agree that all humans are equally deserving of rights and opportunities as a baseline, the United States has a skewed distribution of opportunities.
It's important to note that socialism and communism are distinct systems, though they're often conflated in U.S. discourse. For example:
1. Communist regimes: Cuba and China
- Both have a history of harsh treatment of citizens
- The U.S. engages with Cuba unfairly, to the detriment of its people
- With China, the U.S. has helped build up their middle class at the expense of its own
2. Socialist countries: Venezuela and Finland
- Venezuela is frequently highlighted as an example of socialism's failures
- Finland, often called the happiest country on earth, is rarely mentioned in these arguments
The pursuit of equality isn't primarily about equality of outcome. As a person of color (though not African American), I recognize that African Americans have been systematically disadvantaged. For instance, black war veterans were denied benefits like the GI Bill and home loans that helped build the white middle class. The effects of these policies have compounded over generations.
Some current equality-focused policies aim to remediate these historical injustices. However, the overall goal is to provide equal access to opportunities and education, leaving individuals responsible for what they do with these opportunities. I believe we agree on this point.
I encourage you to examine your own privilege and how it has shaped your trajectory, as I have done with mine. While you only alluded to disagreeing with it, capitalism often functions as a zero-sum game. There's an illusion of competition, but a few giant players control most of the market. A rare exception was when Bill Gates invested in Apple after Steve Jobs' return in the 2000s.
I firmly believe that society should, at minimum, meet people's basic needs, using Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a foundation. Beyond that, if people want more out of life, they should do the work and acquire the knowledge necessary to achieve their goals.
I think, theres layers to this argument, and Jeff was speaking for a different layer of it, a more fundamental and individual perspective one. Whilst your point to the argument of equality being a hoax is relevant but in a different context, the context of general well being of the public. Yours is practical in the sense that, yes, just because some people have higher level skills and attributes naturally or not, they shouldn’t take all the fruit. There should be equal treatment for basic needs, and I think Jeff kinda pushed the same point with his point on all the reason why he thinks humans are equal.
And Jeff’s point is very much fundamental that theres this movement of “equality” going on currently, which is very much self deprecating for individuals, where the sense of humanity is used almost as a weapon to shut critical thinking down, and people with given abilities feel bad for achieving what they achieved. Less and less incentive to strive to become different and more to adhere to the consensus, in the virtue of equality.
I agree the whole equality in society topic has different layers of grey, and I think neither one yours argument is pointing towards black or white but rather different greys.
I dont know if I made much sense, but food for thought aye!
THANK YOU JEFF. SOLID!
JIM
Thank you Jim!
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t you actually arguing that they have their right to their absurd views, and what’s more, that you will defend their freedom to express their absurd views?
Evelyn Beatrice Hall, describing Voltaire's beliefs, once wrote, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
How would you feel about being asked to defend the right to say men and women are false constructs? Would you defend their right to the death? Or do you think that’s just something people say in the heat of the moment?
You nailed it with this article. Unfortunately, college students are being brainwashed by professors like him. We need to have more students like you challenging these ideas. I have a neighbor who was born and raised in Cuba. He shares the sentiments of your classmate from Russia. Keep up the great work.
The problem with your argument is that it's too black and white. While I agree that all humans are equally deserving of rights and opportunities as a baseline, the United States has a skewed distribution of opportunities.
It's important to note that socialism and communism are distinct systems, though they're often conflated in U.S. discourse. For example:
1. Communist regimes: Cuba and China
- Both have a history of harsh treatment of citizens
- The U.S. engages with Cuba unfairly, to the detriment of its people
- With China, the U.S. has helped build up their middle class at the expense of its own
2. Socialist countries: Venezuela and Finland
- Venezuela is frequently highlighted as an example of socialism's failures
- Finland, often called the happiest country on earth, is rarely mentioned in these arguments
The pursuit of equality isn't primarily about equality of outcome. As a person of color (though not African American), I recognize that African Americans have been systematically disadvantaged. For instance, black war veterans were denied benefits like the GI Bill and home loans that helped build the white middle class. The effects of these policies have compounded over generations.
Some current equality-focused policies aim to remediate these historical injustices. However, the overall goal is to provide equal access to opportunities and education, leaving individuals responsible for what they do with these opportunities. I believe we agree on this point.
I encourage you to examine your own privilege and how it has shaped your trajectory, as I have done with mine. While you only alluded to disagreeing with it, capitalism often functions as a zero-sum game. There's an illusion of competition, but a few giant players control most of the market. A rare exception was when Bill Gates invested in Apple after Steve Jobs' return in the 2000s.
I firmly believe that society should, at minimum, meet people's basic needs, using Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a foundation. Beyond that, if people want more out of life, they should do the work and acquire the knowledge necessary to achieve their goals.
I think, theres layers to this argument, and Jeff was speaking for a different layer of it, a more fundamental and individual perspective one. Whilst your point to the argument of equality being a hoax is relevant but in a different context, the context of general well being of the public. Yours is practical in the sense that, yes, just because some people have higher level skills and attributes naturally or not, they shouldn’t take all the fruit. There should be equal treatment for basic needs, and I think Jeff kinda pushed the same point with his point on all the reason why he thinks humans are equal.
And Jeff’s point is very much fundamental that theres this movement of “equality” going on currently, which is very much self deprecating for individuals, where the sense of humanity is used almost as a weapon to shut critical thinking down, and people with given abilities feel bad for achieving what they achieved. Less and less incentive to strive to become different and more to adhere to the consensus, in the virtue of equality.
I agree the whole equality in society topic has different layers of grey, and I think neither one yours argument is pointing towards black or white but rather different greys.
I dont know if I made much sense, but food for thought aye!