Equality?!

I remember watching one episode of the sitcom called “The Office" on Arts Central. In it, the boss of the office who was basically self-centered and ego-centric, was the first to dash out for safety at the sound of a fire alarm while the others tried to help each other to evacuate and let the women go first. When brought to account for that self-centered and cowardly act, he had this to say, "Women and men are equal in the workplace so if I let the women go first I will have a lawsuit on my hands." Although it was said for comedic effect, I felt that it reveals a certain amount of hypocrisy.

Humanity has been trying to achieve some kind of equality for ages and at all levels whether it be race, gender, opportunities for education etc... We had some degree of success with regards to that but has the pursuit of equality turned us into a society of hypocrites?

Take the workplace for example; an employee can sue an employer for discrimination and receive certain compensations if the case is won. That is fair because the employee was being discriminated against and unequally treated, but what if it was the exact opposite whereby an employee was given preferential treatment and he or she has certain perks and privileges not available to another employee in the same position. Would he or she sue the employer for preferential treatment? Isn’t he or she unequally treated as well?

I guess the problem with the “doctrine of equality” (so to speak) is how we use it. We only pursue equality in areas that benefit us and turn a blind eye to it in the areas where we stand to lose out. If that is the case then the word “equality” when used in that light becomes a misnomer. That is why so many double standards arise in the world when we try to make things equal, which allows the root of hypocrisy to grow leading only to the promotion of self-interest. That being the case, I guess nothing is strictly equal.