the Fallacy of America, all men are NOT created equal.

Well, that's a bit harsh for many to hear, because that is the dream of all citizens. We want that to be true, we want to be able to believe with all our being that we, each and every one of us as an individual, has the ability to become great, because we are created equally. Well, 239 years ago when that was written, it wasn't true and the writers of the Declaration knew it. That single phrase was one of the most disputed parts of the document because of the slavery issue. That certainly was a big part, but the reason it isn't true goes much deeper than the desire to unite the commoners to a war for independence that was more for the rich white landowners and white business men than it ever was for the lower classes of commoners. But it was a great battle cry for all the peasants in the land to unite in their, meaning the rich and elite, fight against the one who caused their problems, King George. And because the elite told them they were all equal, the war was fought, nearly lost, but nevertheless won with independence and freedom for all citizens. And the benefactors of that war were of course, white landowners and white businessmen.

Equality, it isn't a reality. Not every person is born with the same social status, some are born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths. Most are born into relative obscurity and some into squalor. None are born equal in the physical sense, some with obvious disabilities, some with gross deformities, and as they age, there are obvious differences in athletic abilities. Many run faster, farther and jump higher than the others. They are stronger and better looking and different from the masses. And then there are the mental abilities. We all see that some have greater comprehension, greater ability to memorize and just plain greater cognitive ability. None are equal in social status, physical ability of mental capacity. 

This isn't a new phenomena, it goes back to paleolithic development. In the stone age, the proto-human that was able to run faster and farther helped the herd kill more meat and was the prize mate. The one that was able to flake better and sharper knives from local flint was the prized mate. The female that learned which mushrooms were safe as well as which grains to eat when and which greens were healing survived, and was a better mate for the herd. This is a controversial statement, but it was all part of the evolution of humans, we changed from the proto-hominids into the humanoids we now are. But just like in those formative millennia, humans are born with differing abilities and mental capacities. A million years ago those sickly less athletic babies didn't survive and often mating wasn't necessarily a sure thing. In today's world, they start software companies and generally do quite well.

The thing is though, none of us are equal. Many of us believe ourselves to be better than the rest, and in some cases they might be correct. However even within our own thought processes, we know for a fact that the calling cry to fight a war for others is not in any way true. We aren't created equal, we each have our own status, ability and intelligence. And probably the most important thing about all this is that we each have differing desires to do something with what we have. If an idiot can become president of the United States, then you can do anything you set your mind to. You won't achieve anything though if you don't try. Maybe that's the message our founding fathers should have presented. Except it isn't as catchy.