True Equality

Hello everyone,
    Sorry for writing this late. This last week, I was watching the Legend of Korra tv series on Nick and something about the villains struck me. Each of the four villains claim "equality" as their goal in some way or shape. When things are equal, they are supposed to be in balance, which happens to be the title of the final season. So it will be interesting to see how it ends up.
    Something we as a society seem to have trouble is recognizing what true equality is. Some people think they need everything someone else has. If everyone is given the same things, then everything is equal, right? Actually, no. In fact, to do so would lead to absolute inequality.
    Let's consider a shopping cart. You can fill it with different combinations of different items and end up with the same total cost as someone else who is buying fewer, but more expensive items. The value of the items inside the cart are equal, but they are made up of different things. These different items could be virtues and talents. It also can be circumstances which change how we view something. A dollar given by a rich man does not carry the same meaning as a dollar given by a poor man. The value of the dollar might be the same, but the sacrifice is completely different. The latter man is the one more worthy of praise.
    No matter what, we will always have different needs and circumstances. Perhaps the first place we should have looked was in the family, where we have both an idea of equality despite knowing inequality. If you have siblings, then you know you always see inequality even though the parents might see true equality. The youngest may be considered the most spoiled because of all the attention he may get, but if he's only 3 months old, then he requires the attention, while a 8-year old sister can play with her friends. Of course there will be situations that will feel unfair, but we also always tend to look at only the small details, not taking into account the larger picture, part of which is the number of siblings you have change as you gain another.
    To be honest, I can't tell you if my parents have their own favorite child, because we are so different. We have different attitudes and occupations. We each our able to do different things with our parents so it's fairly difficult to compare. However, I believe that we are each loved equally because of that uniqueness. It doesn't matter if one is given more money, because it's probably because he or she needs it more, or is thought of to use it more responsibly. We are different and are given different things, but in our parents eyes, we are equally loved, and that is what matters.

With Love,

N. D. Moharo