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"life lessons", different, diversity, equal, equal value, equal-rights, equality, fallacy, personal individuality, uniquely gifted

Diversity involves much more than skin color!

A friend left the following statement as a reply to one of my recent posts. I think it’s worth further discussion. Please add your thoughts!!!

“I think the system is failing when you have someone living in a mansion who works a few hours a day and spend the rest on a golf course when 5 miles away there is a guy working 80 hours a week and he can barely feed his kids.”

So what’s the solution? Is it fair for one man to work hard, build a business, make it successful and then have to pay to support those who choose not to work at all? Is it fair for one well educated Caucasian woman to be passed over while a less educated woman of color is hired?

The fallacy seems to me to be a misunderstanding of the concept of EQUALITY. While we are all “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable (equal) rights, we are not all created equal! We are not all Mozart, or Bach, or DiVinci, or Cezanne, or Dali … We are not all Groban or Pavarotti, or Caruso, or Shakespeare, or Yeats, or Poe … We are, in fact, all created UNIQUELY … differently, with some things in common, yes, but we each have different ambitions, passions, motivations, and abilities! That’s is the problem! Give two guys a hammer and a pile of wood, I’d bet any money they design two different structures/creations. AND Most likely one will be better than the other.

We are each uniquely gifted!

Diversity, which we sing about in all walks of life these days, must include much more than the superficial skin color, but rather ALL that makes each of us UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS. Diversity includes our personalities, our spirituality, our gifts and abilities, our various ethnic cultures, our attitudes, and our experience. All of these things weave together to create … me! You! “Sam I am!”

But it’s not all sweetness and light. Not every human is born with the ABILITIES to create personal wealth. However, that person may be endowed with an unnatural artistic gift or an astounding way of making others smile. Are these abilities any less valuable to a society? a family? a nation? However, should a convenience store clerk receive compensation equal to an educator or a physician? Should an excellent (based on survival rates), experienced surgeon be compensated equally with those right out of school? Should all plumbers be compensated equally, or should their success, dependability, punctuality, and quality of work be taken into consideration?

Socialism, at its root, attaches a fixed price to services and products without regard to variables. In other words, Socialism does not observe individualism or diversity. Capitalism rewards quality, availability, and many other determinants by adjusting compensation accordingly. Diversity and individuality are often (not always) rewarded, not always financially!

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