World's Worst - Prager Claims "Equality" Isn't American

Right wing radio host Dennis Prager explained to his listeners that the idea of equality is actually a European value and is part of a left wing conspiracy to create "a grand edifice of lies about America. For that, Countdowns Keith Olbermann names him Worst Person in the World.

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[joekiddlouischama]

@michaelzigi "What about "All men are created equal" and "equal protection of the laws"?

The reality is that both the American and French Revolutions drew upon Enlightenment values.

[guyjohn59]

"There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal." -Hayek

Equality under the law is American. Inequality under the law to make people equal (and poor) is not.

[SilverFox466]

@guyjohn59 Equality will never be achieved "that is why it is not American". Obama has spread the wealth in order to promote equality - all it has done is made us less equal. Equality - all of us have equal protection under the law; however, affirmative action has made that equality null and void. Obama and Oberman believe equality means every US citizen is economically equal no matter what their skill level or education level. They love to make every one a victim.

[AngeCord]

What is equality worth when you have the right, but not the means to be equal?

[poopstreek]

There is a difference between considering everyone to be equal, and forcing them to be equal.

We all are supposed to have equal rights, and protection under our laws, but in no way does that mean that we should all make the same amount--like true socialists want.

[RavingDissension]

Prager is right. America is not about equality. It is about equity. The only thing equal in this country that Americans truly value is the ability to show just how unequal we all are, or simply put, equity.

[alexandreleverrier]

Right wingers are completely out of touch with reality, they're either corporate whores or morons.

[michaelzigi]

@joekiddlouischama In crude terms, the French ideal rested on Rousseau's general will, and the English rested on Hobbes, Locke, and Smith's individual self-interest. These are very different philosophies.

"All men are created equal" means humans are born equal, and they must be treated with equal opportunity (equal protection guarantees this). "Equality," as such, is not guaranteed, nor has it ever been an American ideal.

[okplayer420]

@ktnoah684 Fail!

"When you tax those who work and dont those who dont..." Are you implying that people like firemen, teachers, police officers, military personnel, road workers, water treatment facility workers, plumbers and other construction workers do not work, and that bankers and douchebags on Wall St. do?

We need plumbers more than we need investment bankers... so why do investment bankers make so much more money? All bankers do is leech off of the work of people who ACTUALLY WORK!!!

[michaelzigi]

Almost all, if not all, academics/professors/authors/s­cholars would agree with the philosophical distinction Prager makes here. The clear line between equality and equal opportunity/liberty has been explained adequately in some of the comments below. Equality is a distinctly French Enlightenment notion. I am a recent graduate of Political Science and International Relations at Tufts University, and I have never come across any student or teacher that has offered an opposing argument.