Reply #37: I wish it were true.

[Milo_Bloom]

But, as we're discussing, it all depends on the use of the term equal.

At some point isn't it a reality of the human psyche that we gravitate toward people who we consider smart, pretty and talented? I would love to say it isn't and that these things truly don't matter at all. However, I can see from where I live that similar people choose to spend time with similar people (I am not talking race, creed, etc... I am talking socio/economic level). I often see groups of "beautiful" people together, because "beautiful people" like to spend time with other "beautiful" people ("beautiful is in "'s because who is or who is not beautiful is entirely subjective and I want to acknowledge that).

Equal in the law, equal in rights, YES. However, equal in the way other people react to you.. unfortunately, no.


I recently had to hire 2 people for a job (All interviews were conducted over the phone so I didn't get to see them and be potentially influenced by looks) however, I certainly used intelligence as a barrier. Someone who expressed themselves well and didn't use terms like "Stoled it", "boughten" or "more better", had a leg up on someone who did. This was a pretty simple job (customer service representative), but I wanted someone who I felt could present independent thought and think beyond what a training manual will say. At the end of the day I did not see the intelligent person as equal to the less intelligent person... I prized their mental capacity. All these candidates were not equal... I had to find the ways they were unequal and make a decision based on their inequalities. All candidates were college graduates and since we eliminated a ton of people at the resume level, most had similar if not identical experience, but at the end of the Candidates A and B, were smarter than Candidates C-->G.

Maybe this just proves the point, because the judgment only came when the person was a commodity; however, this is a real fact of society and I fear to not acknowledge it as real, is to close ones eyes to things that probably cannot be changed.