A Disabusal of a Dulcet Notion

Gao Huan

To say that ��one citizen is as good as another�� is absolutely politically correct. But it is in the meantime one of the most dulcet illusions in the modern human history.

When the feudal inequality was first challenged by the capitalist revolutionaries, it was indeed a great leap towards a much better state of human affairs. It is on the very basis of equalitarianism that the status quo has been finally achieved.

But is it really equalitarianism? It is always the case that only the oppressed rise up to fight for ��equality��. Yet in their subconscious what they actually wanted was a reversed situation: they be the superior. When they got the power, constitution and laws were set up, stating ��all are equal��, i.e. ��one citizen is as good as another��. Everyone was then hypnotized to believe it (and probably they would not rise up for equality anymore).

But how could it be possible that ��one citizen is as good as another�� when there is a world of glaring differences? Two boys. One is born with a silver spoon, the other born to a poor family. Of course they get different education thus different prospects. Even if they are born in the same family, what if one happens to be brilliant and the other mentally retarded? Surely we can foresee that the advantaged will usually be on the rise, then be a part of the elite, advocating the narcotic notion of ��one citizen is as good as another��, while the disadvantaged will usually be at the bottom, accepting that very idea, thinking they are fundamentally the same, only that they have different jobs. Tell me where is the equalness when there is merely an abstract and vague concept of ��equality.��

Even if those at the bottom indeed raise doubt and resent, there is probably nothing they can do about it, because this inborn inequality is not entirely due to the society we are living in. There is a much more subtle yet much more powerful force��LUCK. You may call it fate. You may call it happenstance. At least you cannot choose your parents. You can work hard to improve your condition somehow. But compared to a better-born guy, you are simply not at the same starting line of the race. You need to make more efforts to be just as good. It is not fair. But you had better accept it. To make good, many elements are necessary. But luck is something we can��t create by ourselves when we realize there is a lack of it.

We are born different, and partially as a consequence, we live and behave differently. All we can say is that ��one citizen is POLITICALLY as good as another, and better or worse otherwise.�� It is not pleasant but unfortunately true, which we have to admit.

Professor Huang Yongmin's Comment: Well-organized and written. Good!