TTSR Meaningless “Equality"

Comments on The Thomas Sowell Reader, pages 51-53, Meaningless "Equality"

In the abundance of a politician’s vocabulary, ‘Equality’ seems to be used most in matters where it is completely inapplicable.  For equality to be honestly discussed, the subjects must be commensurable ^[*] which in most cases, they are not. 

Conflict between men and women for equal rights has been about equality the whole time, but did any of the campaigners for women’s equality ever stop to consider that men and woman are not commensurable?  If they did, they would see that no matter how men and women are treated, they are never going to be equals.  First of all, God created man first and then woman to be man’s helper.  Secondly, women are the reproducers of the human race.  They cannot do it independently but men cannot even try.  Men will never know what it is like for a woman to go through nine months of an emotional roller costar, and that is just the beginning.  After a baby is born it needs constant care from its mother that a father cannot provide.  In short, men give up nothing for a person to be born, while women sacrifice a part of their lives.  Totally incommensurable.

So then, lets take an example of an equality struggle that is commensurable, like Northern Europe vs. Southern Europe.  Northern Europe has been ahead of Southern Europe for centuries industrially and technologically.  They were not always this way though.  Before Northern Europe’s time of glory, the South was the dominant power.  It was the desire to surpass their rival that helped the North achieve such advances.  These two are commensurable because both can be held to the same standards.

Similarly, a century ago Japan was inferior to the West as far as their productive capabilities.  No one felt this more than the Japanese themselves, but that feeling of inferiority was what drove them to improvement.  A country is like a person.   He will not rise to prominence through meaningless debates or pointless speeches.  There must be a purpose or a goal that people desire for a nation to prosper.

[*] Measurable by the same standard. Two concepts or things are commensurable if they are measurable or comparable by a common standard.