In modern society, we can’t all be No. 1

Wednesday, November 18, 1998

In modern society, we can’t all be No. 1

UTOPIA: In spite of lofty goals of Founding Fathers, society
anything but equal

A few insane, hoary-headed men drafted this piece of parchment
200 years ago called the "Declaration of Independence." They were
obviously fugitives from some mental institution because they had
the audacity to write that "all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

These supposedly self-evident truths don’t seem clear enough at
times.

While killing time on a rather slug-paced spring afternoon, I
managed to find a column in U.S. News and World Report by John Leo,
called "We’re all Number 1," (June 22, 1998). The column was
dedicated to youth soccer leagues on the East (right) Coast.

Apparently, some brilliant administrator devised a plan to
ensure that all children who played soccer would be winners and
there would be no losers. The idea was to take no scores and just
play for the hell of it. Besides, it’s better to have an entire
league of winners than to have one champion team and a bunch of
loser teams.

This logic amazed me. The first signs of revolution were at
hand. Who would have imagined that the seeds of Utopia would begin
in the context of youth soccer? Such benevolence should spread to
all facets of life, so that we all can truly be equal, just like
those mad Founding Fathers said.

Imagine a world where we all graduated with a 4.0 GPA regardless
of how much effort we put into stu(dying).

Imagine a world with no "crosstown rivalry" as well. Instead of
being crosstown rivals, we could be crosstown buddies. (I’m going
to rush to the USC student store and buy myself a nifty Trojan
baseball cap. I wonder how I would look with a UCLA T-shirt and a
USC baseball cap.)

Who cares if you can’t spell "mycorrhizae" or "rubber ducky"?
One’s creativity should never be inhibited. (I seriously suspect
that Dan Quayle did in fact discover "creative spelling." And
someone once said that the vice presidency was a useless
office.)

But before you go around proudly strutting your new discoveries,
just remember not to hurt the feelings of those less creative.
Heaven forbid that anyone try to stand out and make others feel
less equal.

Oddly enough, this talk reminds me of an episode of "The
Twilight Zone." (Yes, I’m a recovering couch potato.) The story
takes place sometime in the near future when society is able to
eradicate all the ugliness from society due to the wonders of
plastic surgery. The protagonist refused to have the surgery done,
because she thought that people wouldn’t know what is beautiful
without knowing what is considered ugly.

These so-called Founding Fathers drafted an idealistic piece of
history. All men are indeed equal under the law. In reality, things
aren’t so simple. We the People of the United States retain colored
perceptions of the world around us, and these biases inevitably
affect the way we deal with each other.

Regardless of how open-minded people think they are, one can
never escape favoring one group or one person over another. The
idea of everyone winning and no one losing subscribes to a very
rudimentary example of dictating behavior based on the "common
good."

Why is it that there are images of chickens and prisoners
floating around in my head? Could it be that I learned something
from all those political sciences classes I’ve slept through? (For
those who are trapped in the somewhat drab south campus or who have
never had the pleasure of being in a political science class, the
chicken and the prisoners refer to gaming theory.)

Supposedly, all men have been created equal ever since this
nation was founded, but is this theory plausible? Within the Bill
of Rights, it is outlined that people are free to choose whatever
form of worship they want (in the First Amendment). In Amendments
15 and 19, it is explicitly stated that you cannot deny the rights
of a person based on race, color or gender. (So it seems that We
the People don’t understand what equality is since it must be
enforced through various amendments.)

Although these amendments exist, they don’t negate the biases
that we all have. In the context of that soccer column in U.S. News
and World Report, some of the young players were interviewed and
one boy said that he kept score in his head. So, regardless of what
rules are imposed in that league, there are those who still kept
score to see who really won.

What a shame. Things aren’t looking so great for this Utopia. I
was looking forward to buying a USC cap. Equality is yet another
concept forever condemned to exist in the realm of ideas, which is
not necessarily a terrible fate.

Years ago, when I was a dopey junior high school student, I read
a story about a Dystopia, where all people were coerced into being
equal. A certain IQ, way of dress, physical ability and way of
thinking were enforced constantly. Those who dared to try breaking
out of that system were killed.

Within the UC system, the issue of affirmative action always
rears its controversial head. (Do you hear that buzzing? It’s the
flies feasting on the corpse of a beaten horse.) Currently,
students entering UCLA are admitted based upon their academic
merit. Ideally, with all things being truly equal and simple, this
system is perfect.

But something isn’t quite right. Some people want affirmative
action implemented. They argue that diversity is threatened and
that less fortunate people have a right to an education. Others
claim that life isn’t fair and that those whining about it should
just sit down, shut up and work harder.

Life truly fails to come remotely close to what is just and
fair. But to dismantle attempts at making the world less unjust
­ affirmative action ­ by saying it contradicts the
Founding Fathers’ ideal (that all men are created equal) assumes
pre-existing equality. This equality never existed.

Ideals are beautiful things to try to attain. But for some
strange reason, whenever people try to implement some sort of
social system in this world, things become a little strange.

For example, Marxism tries to create a world of true equality
and communal social order, but somehow communism developed with a
very small elite lording over the masses, which was contrary to the
original ideals of communism. No matter how many times we call our
system of government a Democracy (a government by the people), it
is still a Republic (a government by representatives of the
people).

Perhaps if people were more aboveboard about their opinions
(instead of masking them) and willing to consider other people’s
opinions, then we would be on our way towards a more just society.
It surely won’t be perfect, but it’s a beginning.

Those crazy Founding Fathers. Perhaps the Smithsonian will
unveil an exhibit showing the straitjackets they used to wear.
Whoever heard of equality?

Julianne Sohn

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