EQUALITY NOT EQUITY

DEFINITION: "The terms equality and equity are often used interchangeably; however, they differ in important ways. Equality is typically defined as treating everyone the same and giving everyone access to the same opportunities. Meanwhile, equity refers to proportional representation (by race, class, gender, etc.)"
Winston-Salem State University

Equality is true and ought to always be lived by, but “equity” as popularly promoted at present isn't good or true. That certain groups, or races, or classes ought to be given special privilege and individuals who because of their class, or race, or group ought to be denied equality--that is wrong. It is a denial of classic liberalism to treat individuals primarily as part of a group, class, and race.

Too often that leads to inequality, injustice, misuse, abuse, unfairness, even divisive division, propaganda, Marxist actions, even hatred, false labeling of all individuals of a certain group or class or race as bad.

Heck, even though I began working and demonstrating against racial injustice long ago back in 1965 and though I support marriage for same sexual couples, etc., recently I was verbally attacked as being of “white supremacy” and of being “homophobic”!

Why?! Because I happen to belong to the white race, and am of the grouping that supports the nuclear family.

BLM and other such organizations (on the extreme left and the extreme right) instead of focusing on individuals, their inherent worth, their differences, etc., view society as competing groups. Two of BLM’s founders claim to be “Marxists.”

Contrary to the drum-beating of equity, the standards, for instance, for admission to a college ought to be the same for everyone!

To give preferential treatment to an individual who happens to be Black or poor or a woman or from a bad neighborhood is to treat him not as an individual but as primarily part of a race, a group, a class, a gender/sex.

This the sort of political propaganda that focuses on—blaming the current major society for the ills of the minority (even though those ills come from a variety of sources, including some of the individuals and their wrong choices within that grouping, besides racism, etc.).

However, this is not to say, that disadvantaged young adults ought not to be helped. Injustice in the past, immoral actions of the past, and so forth ought to be righted now.

BUT the way they ought to be helped isn’t by disadvantaging individuals who happen to belong to other groupings--white or Asian or middle class or male or from a stable, civil neighborhood.

There ought to be equal standards for all—equality.

Then beyond that equality--not disadvantaging a person just because he is white or Asian-- the government and society can still make additional efforts, plans, etc. to help those who have grown up disadvantaged.

For instance, instead of quotas, special privileges, or giving lower standards for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, those individuals who can’t meet the requirements can be given extra tutoring, extra help in getting tools such as computers, etc.

That way everyone is treated equally, but those who because of social and cultural injustice, poor circumstances, or abusive background, etc. are given extra help to meet and achieve the same standards.

Hopefully, balancing equality with extra help for those in need will help achieve the good, true, and just.

In the Light, Dan Wilcox

Heroic: A Passing Teenager Saved a Mother and Children from Their Burning Car

FROM: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/waterbury-police-honor-teen-who-saved-mother-children-from-burning-car/2330661/?fbclid=IwAR2T03YZtSIzp7_IBUv8IGImP8EAGC2fEkjgQUBSqFqSPYd-kZZUNKRZ1MQ

"A teen rescued a mother and three children, including a 1-year-old in a car seat, from a burning car in Waterbury on Wednesday and police have honored him for his bravery.

The parking lot at 24 Swift Place in Waterbury still has charred remains of an SUV, which was fully engulfed in flames when first responders arrived Wednesday afternoon. The scene could’ve been one of a terrible tragedy if not for the courageous act of an 18-year old.

Trapped inside the SUV, just before it burst into flames, were a mother and three small children.
“I felt helpless,” said Latrisha Chambers of Waterbury. “All I could do is pray. I was screaming for help.”

Jaylah, Ellie and Isaiah, ages 9, 4 and 1, were inside with their mother before Justin Gavin ran to their aid.

Gavin, the passing teenager said, “As I saw the car coming, I saw the little kids in the back, I kept yelling, the car’s on fire. The car’s on fire,” said Gavin, who was just getting off a bus in the area when he witnessed what was happening.
"...said he saw the flames flickering beneath the car, beginning to build when he started to help the children from the burning vehicle.
“I told the little girl to unbuckle her seatbelt as fast as she can so when I threw open the door, I could just pull them out,” said Gavin.

Chambers said she was in shock during the frightening moments while Gavin was assisting.

“He’s like get out, get out,” said Chambers. “Everybody’s like you got to get out, it’s on fire and I didn’t know it was on fire.”


Gavin said he doesn’t scare easily but in this case was nervous. “I was kind of scared because I’ve never seen a burning car before.”

To recognize the heroic effort, Waterbury Police honored Gavin Wednesday, giving him something normally reserved for officers themselves, the chief’s commemorative coin.

Meanwhile Chambers has a message for Gavin, the person she refers to as her angel. “There’s nothing I could do to show you or ever repay what you did for me and my children, ever,” she said.

The event may have had an altering effect on Gavin’s life too. Before this he had dropped out of school. Now he is not only considering returning but is thinking about a career as a first responder.

“I probably most likely will join the police force or become a firefighter,” he said. “Because after yesterday I feel like there’s more people that can be helped.”

You can watch the video of police honoring Gavin..."

American Race, Poverty, Social Dysfunction, and Ethics

"The illegitimacy rate among blacks is 72 percent...But why was the black illegitimacy rate only 14 percent in 1940"??!!
Walter E. Williams, Black Economist

Below is a very powerful article worth reading again, and again. I don't agree with all of the points, especially not the dubious right-wing ones, BUT Williams raises many important issues about poverty, race, government, social dysfunction, and ethics.

First, let me emphasize that I don't think getting out of poverty is nearly as easy as successful leaders such as Williams claim.

Many poor people work very hard. Many of them don't have the 'good life' that Williams' statistics claim.

I spent most of my adult life working with teens from poor and/or dysfunctional single parent families (usually the mom; the deadbeat dad gone:-( .

Here's one powerful example.
A nice teen had fallen behind on his homework. I put pressure on him, required a meeting with his parents.

As it turned out, the teen had gotten behind on his homework because every day he watched his little brothers because his mom (dad missing) was having to work 2 jobs just to make ends meet at a basic poverty level.

Have you ever tried to make ends me on minimum wage?!

And work 2 jobs?

And care for 1 teen and 2 children--all of them boys?

I've worked minimum wage before (though as a single), too. It wasn't easy, couldn't make ends meet even by myself.

So while we need to encourage all people to work their way out of poverty as Williams emphasizes, we need to be compassionate and help!

There are many poor people doing the best they can, such as that very hard-working poor mother that I met.

My hat goes off to her.

Think about what former President Jimmy Carter has to say:

from Dependency, Not Poverty by Walter E. Williams
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

"There is no material poverty in the U.S. Here are a few facts about people whom the Census Bureau labels as poor. Dr. Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield, in their study "Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor" (http://tinyurl.com/448flj8), report that 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning; nearly three-quarters have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more. Two-thirds have cable or satellite TV. Half have one or more computers."

"Forty-two percent own their homes. Poor Americans have more living space than the typical non-poor person in Sweden, France or the U.K. What we have in our nation are dependency and poverty of the spirit, with people making unwise choices and leading pathological lives...The illegitimacy rate among blacks is 72 percent....why was the black illegitimacy rate only 14 percent in 1940?"

"...A statistic that one doesn't hear much about is that the poverty rate among black married families has been in the single digits for more than two decades, currently at 8 percent. For married white families, it's 5 percent.

"Now the politically incorrect questions: Whose fault is it to have children without the benefit of marriage and risk a life of dependency? Do people have free will, or are they governed by instincts?"

"...census data "going back a hundred years, when blacks were just one generation out of slavery ... showed that a slightly higher percentage of black adults had married than white adults. This fact remained true in every census from 1890 to 1940"? Is anyone willing to advance the argument that the reason the illegitimacy rate among blacks was lower and marriage rates higher in earlier periods was there was less racial discrimination and greater opportunity?

"No one can blame a person if he starts out in life poor, because how one starts out is not his fault. If he stays poor, he is to blame because it is his fault."

MY OWN INSERTION: MAYBE, MAYBE NOT.

"Avoiding long-term poverty is not rocket science. First, graduate from high school. Second, get married before you have children, and stay married. Third, work at any kind of job, even one that starts out paying the minimum wage."

"And finally, avoid engaging in criminal behavior. It turns out that a married couple, each earning the minimum wage, would earn an annual combined income of $30,000."

MY COMMENT: TRY LIVING ON $30,000 IN THE U.S.! I WONDER IF WILLIAMS HAS TRIED TO DO THIS YEAR AFTER YEAR?

READ the rest of his debatable, thought-provoking article at:
https://www.creators.com/read/walter-williams/02/14/dependency-not-poverty

Please rescue the impoverished, the persecuted, the abused.

Live in the LIGHT,

Daniel Wilcox

"Shine Bright Stories"...brighten one needy child at a time

https://www.worldvision.org/

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Doss: Conscientious Objector, Medic, Medal of Honor Winner

from the TIME Review by Eliza Berman:

"Doss, a Seventh-Day Adventist who refused to bear arms but enlisted as a medic in the U.S. army, is on the battlefield on Okinawa in the spring of 1945."

"Armed with nothing but a bible, he’s carrying his wounded comrades to safety, one by one, through enemy fire,
repeatedly beseeching God to “help me get one more.”

http://time.com/4539373/hacksaw-ridge-movie-true-story/


'He would spend more than five years after the war being treated for his wounds, losing a lung to tuberculosis. Because of his injuries, he was never able to work full-time, and he devoted the rest of his life to working with his church."

--

Thanks to ALL the veterans who sought to protect and save
those who were oppressed,
and especially the young men who wouldn't kill,
but who rescued
and saved as many of the suffering that they could.

The conscientious objector and medic Desmond Doss was one of these protectors.

He refused to kill, became a medic and rescued many wounded Americans, including 50-100 off a tall cliff.

And our hearts go out to the millions of young men who have been sent off
to wrong wars,
to unjust wars,
caught between bad politics
and moral questions.



In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Paradoxical Truths to Live By