Equality

I have met some of the wealthy and well educated who could not see past their own status, class or ego.

I have met poor or humble intellectuals who self-educated to high levels of knowledge and experience, but who would never be given equal recognition in the workplace without proof of a formal education.

I have met some religious folk from various religions who seemed to not show all that much compassion for those outside of their own religious community.

I have met some non-religious folk or agnostics or those who consider themselves to be atheists or who did not believe in any god or wasn’t sure, but who still had compassion and natural empathy for others, regardless of their religious or spiritual affiliation.

I have been to a country where all people were regarded as equal in relation to race and gender, but not in relation to religion.

I have lived in a country where all religions were regarded as equal, but ethnicity and race were used to categorize people into a hierarchy of haves and have-nots in relation to rights, jobs, education and assets.

I have lived in a country where a transformation process towards equity requires re-integration in all spheres of life, yet many of the previously advantaged choose emigration.

I have been to a country where every person is equal and every person is working class, according to the political system. Every person has access to free education and health care but they are unable to reach their full potential in terms of business and entrepreneurship and are barred from emigration to seek out better lives for themselves elsewhere.

I have worked in countries where foreigners are often treated as outsiders and where they will always find it harder to get good jobs which pay as well as those for citizens.

I know of countries where foreigners from affluent countries are elevated to higher positions in society, and earn more respect and better salaries than those who were born there.

I know of countries where people are born into caste and class systems which would determine their entire lives and futures.

I have lived in countries where you are born free, but where you are “enslaved” by the economic system and where only a few will rise out of working class into affluence.

I know of families treating their own members as outsiders or outcasts and I know about how friendships can sometimes become stronger than family ties.

I have met those to whom these paradoxes are obvious and those who are oblivious by choice. I know that some believe it has always been this way and can never change.

I’ve also met some who believe that humans are currently in the process of entering a new phase of consciousness and that we are definitely moving forward.

I believe that although we can see inequalities in every sphere of daily life, much of it has to do with our egos and perceptions about ourselves and misconceptions about others. In the social, economic and political sphere we can see that local, regional and continental systems are not at the same point at the same time, but are slowly converging in terms of knowledge and awareness. I believe there will always be cultural differences, but there will be more equality in terms of human rights in the future.

I know that massive historical strides have been made towards ethnic, gender, language, racial and religious equality and I believe that’s all part of a slow, but systematic, positive process, linked to our progressiveness as a species. I am aware that the path is not without major upheaval and that the human race will be facing major obstacles in the near future, but I believe it is all part of the convulsions of transformation.

I believe that becoming aware of inequality is one step closer towards equality.

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Article and photographs by Jean-Jacques Montagnier

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