Scots Wha Hae!

Scots Wha Hae!

Originally shared by David Amerland

Equality

“Hello I'm 16 years old, and for the past few months I've felt sad on the inside. 
I've come to the realization that the world is a horrible place full of cold-hearted individuals. 
Weather (sic) it's sex, colour, beliefs, looks, sexual preference, economic position, or 'social status' people always find a way to hate others.” begins a heart-rending question posted on Yahoo Answers (https://goo.gl/GhdCCu) by a teen asking the internet for help to solve what we, adults, have not yet quite managed to. 

This past week, as the American presidential race accepted yet more candidates, the Supreme Court made history (http://goo.gl/RLLGpN) by passing a law that guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage and finally, taking away an issue that had been deeply divisive for many. This past month, I’ve used the opportunity of a Pop Culture course I took to write about comics and their impact on social issues and our understanding of them and here too, comics had been ahead of the curve with their introduction of gay superheroes as far back as 1979 with X-Men’s Northstar (https://goo.gl/S6RVJm). 

The moving forward of our society towards the acknowledgement of equality, frequently conflates, two very different issues the recognition of which actually moves things even further forward. Physically, mentally and even materially we are not all equal: http://goo.gl/hbX8uP and the suggestion of equality is frequently used as a means of evading the social responsibility we have towards others (https://goo.gl/6tJQPL). 

The question has even been debated online (http://goo.gl/WIoFlR) with some decidedly eye-opening comments. The reason behind our drive for equality is not one intending to railroad differences between the sexes so much as the inequality in the world we live in. The distinction is a fine one and the reason these two are bound so closely together is because the first is used as a thin edged wedge to pry open the argument that the world should be more equal than it is, right now. And that, as Dan Ariely points out is a real issue: https://goo.gl/DLh97K because we do not yet have a just society, though we all crave one. 

A TED discussion on the subject of equality elicited even more informative views: http://goo.gl/cJmRoC. 

The fact that obvious differences are frequently used to create artificial ones that lead to inequality and segregation was evidenced, very recently, in Turkey where its President used the facile argument of women’s biology versus that of men to explain the more entrenched divisions in Turkish society (http://goo.gl/7pQIUA) that its government chooses to ignore. 

The internet, social media and travel have created a world that is more transparent than at any other time in our history. Despite the fact that governments across the globe are struggling to remain in charge and relevant through a narrative that attacks personal freedoms, erodes whatever privacy we have and vies to seize ever more power via a commonly held narrative of “their fight against terror”, we are becoming more rather than less tolerant: http://goo.gl/bwzSQw. 

But the struggle is not over and the fight is not yet won. Real equality is one that looks at people as human beings rather than persons of a certain gender, color, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation and acknowledges their intrinsic value, their right to be who they want to be and their potential to contribute, equally, to our society. We are not quite there yet. It requires empathy, maturity, confidence in ourselves, understanding and the opportunity to see people as being fundamentally the same and potentially all good. As Aziz Abu Sarah suggests, we perhaps all need to be more tourists: https://goo.gl/nqmk9C and maybe we will get there. 

I hope you have not discriminated in your selection of donuts, croissants, cookies and chocolate cake and have made sure that there is more than enough coffee to last the day. Have one awesome Sunday wherever you may be.