We in America are proud that we consider ourselves all created equal. Actually, that’s a pretty broad statement that needs examining. Why? Because it’s not factually true.

We all stand equal before our creator in our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but we are not carbon copies of one another. That’s a good thing, because it takes a lot of differently talented people to make a fully rounded society. There are things we all have in common, like noses at the center of our faces, but that does not make us the same. We do, however, all have an equal right to express our lives.

With all of this similarity, somehow we all have different faces, and different bodies, but we also have very different mentalities and attitudes. A lot of these differences are the result of our formative years. There are in this world people in the political arena who soon realize that the general populace would be much easier to control if they could get everyone to ignore all of the things that make us each an individual.

I do believe that some of the greatest differences in peoples intellectual abilities are the result of how they were taught or treated in their formative years. There are probably people who should know better than to attempt to raise children. Above all, children need acceptance, and in return, they must learn to accept a degree of responsibility for themselves. It would seem that these two things are sadly missing in many subcultures of America, and many other nations today. That may be our biggest problem of all, for the future we hope to see.

People are somewhat like a violin string, in that they are useless without being stretched. You must stretch them sufficiently to tune them to the pitch they were designed to produce. When this is done they produce beautiful music which enhances our imaginations. If, however, we stretch them too tight, we may break them altogether, and they become useless, as placid as if they were never stretched at all. Not being stretched at all ignores our humanity, and we become completely useless, to ourselves, or any one else. We understand some things need testing or proofing, before used in many situations, but we don’t always apply it to humanity.

The thing that has been the downfall of every socialistic system, has been their necessity to treat everyone the same. People are not like cows in a barn. That simple fact is what makes a socialistic system to be an inevitable failure whenever it has been tried. With the great variation in people who all think for themselves, socialism is impossible. Everyone is an individual person, different in their face, their body, and their mental aptitudes. Socialism makes cows of us all.

To treat everyone according to some central formula is to be doomed to failure. Why? Because that is not the way it is. Some people are highly intelligent. They learn quickly and find life interesting. They may pursue any number of things. Others are brought up to care about nothing except what they may be able to get easily without effort.

Some of us are big and strong. Some are not. Some are beautiful and alluring, and some are lesser so. We all have different challenges. Any system that cannot recognize, and allow for the fact that people are different, one from another, is doomed to failure and frustration. Socialism rulers, sooner or later, come to see their subjects as the deplorable horde. All races contain within themselves all the variations of any other race. People are not carbon copies of a central plan, or system. They are all individuals in their own right. We must accept that. Neither you nor I may be like an Albert Einstein, a Bill Gates, or a Martin Luther King Jr., but our lives still have a place, a meaning, a purpose, and deserve respect. May God bless America.

Richard Westlund is a Collins resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com