Equality Is Not An American Value

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Equality Is Not An American Value
88
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 5:27pm

Dennis Prager told a group of conservatives and

Sopal

<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-18-2008
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 5:52pm

You know, Republicans might think I’m nuts but I think that during the course of human events, it sometimes becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.


I simply hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.


Call me crazy, though.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 5:58pm
Wow!

Sopal

<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-09-2008
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:00pm

Dennis Prager told a group of conservatives and

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:04pm
So do you agree with Prager that equality is not an American value?

Sopal


Sopal

<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-09-2008
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:12pm

as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:21pm

So what do you think of the statement:


"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."


which is from a famous document?

Sopal

<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-09-2008
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:23pm

So do you agree with Prager that equality is not an American value?


Equality in what respect ?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2008
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:35pm

(((((

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-09-2008
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:40pm

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."


Of course I believe all men AND WOMEN are created equal.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2007
Wed, 10-29-2008 - 6:40pm

I take that statement to mean that all men have equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.


Three points:


1. note pursuit of happiness, not happiness. i.e. the government doesn' thave to make sure you're happy, they just have to leave you alone while you pursue your happiness.


2. equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness doesn't mean that the government should ensure everyone is equal in all respects. they shouldn't care if some people have more money and others less money. that kind of equality is not an American value.


3. Think about the context in which those statements were made. They were made as our Founding Fathers sought to extricate themselves from a government that they felt was overbearing

Pages