I'm going to stick to the assertion that "inequality is the natural state
of existence," because I think it is a fact that is quite valid. However I
can understand others making exceptions.
My own life, and the observation of others life, as well as reason, tells
me that no two people can ever be equally good at all things. This
inequality does not detract in any way from the value of each person. It
acts as a differentiator. It is the foundation of our uniqueness and our
independence.
But when you try to mess with that law (yes I will call it the law of
existence) then you run into a lot of problems. First, nothing any of us
can do will ever change the law; second, any attempt to mitigate the law
will inevitably violate another persons rights; third, we need to learn to
leverage these inequalities instead of try to obliterate them.
Can you ever make another person play basketball like Michael Jordan who
is not equally as gifted as he? So what do you do? There are a few
choices: a) allow the inequality to exist, and let the person who does not
play basketball like Michael Jordan do what he/she is good at; b) force
Michael Jordan to lower his level of play; d) outlaw basketball. But by
allowing everyone to play at their best possible level, even though there
are inequalities, it makes watching basketball very entertaining and
unpredictable. And for the atheletes it makes them work hard, year round,
to improve their skills, learn to work better togther as a team to
compensate for individual weaknesses.
To me inequality in existence is what leads to diversity. It is what
allows us to be creative, to excel at something, and to have a sound
economic system.
Just imagine if everyone could make violins like Stradivari. How much
would a violin be worth? Or if everyone made identical products to
Microsoft. How would that benefit the economy? Why would anyone try to be
creative, innovative? It is the natural inequalities that exist in
existence that give motion to the human world in which we live.
This view is the foundation upon which I build the idea that employee
ranking is not only good but necessary to run a highly competitive
workplace. It is also the view upon which I build the idea that
competition is needed for a civil society to exist.
-- Benjamin Compton DWS -- "The GroupWise Integration Experts" (617) 267-0044 ext. 16 E-Mail: bcompton@emailsolutions.com http://www.emailsolutions.comLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>