>>>Then clearly by definition all men are not equal in the eyes of the law, are they?? If you have no money or are less capable you are not equal to rich and intelligent. And even then you may not be treated fairly if you are up against richer and/or even more financially or politically powerful agents.
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>>The man who asserts his rights and will fight for them will find equality.
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>>The man who concedes his rights and does not pursue them will be marginalized. Not because the law, or the universe, or god is unfair. But because he has chosen not to be equal.
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>This is rubbish :)
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>Firstly, all these statements about Darwin and survival of the fittest and game theory has nothing to do with your original statement about "all men being equal in the eyes of the law". In fact, these new statements clearly say that all men are in fact not equal in the eyes of the law and that one's abilities and resources are what counts. And these resources themselves are clearly not distributed equally otherwise what the heck is BillG doing with my money?

It is rubbish, I will agree, if we assume that "equal" means "will never be marginalized."

However, most cases where someone is marginalized it is because they have allowed themselves to be marginalized.

Yes, this is very easy for someone who grew up white and middle class to say. I realize how naive it would be to think that bad things don't happen. I realize how foolish it is to think that the poor and the uneducated have the ability to reassert themselves in the American justice system after this has happened.

That said, I stand by the claims. We are in fact created equal. Now, it is true that some may be born into more dire circumstances than the rest, but that cannot be an excuse for allowing the continued marginalization of a person. That person must take it upon themselves to become educated on how to survive and be happy in their environment. If they do not, and if they fail in the American system, then it will not be because the American system is a failure, it is because they have chosen not to assert themselves.

Despite this cruel fact of reality, that one's freedom and happiness ultimately depends on them, the American system is by far the best system in existence to help give the leg up to overcome this. Public education and a legal system where you are innocent until proven guilty by a jury of your peers comes to mind.

A poor uneducated person who cannot understand or defend their rights may not find equality when their rights are attacked. But the point I'm making is that to enjoy your rights, you must work to understand and defend your rights well before you fear your rights have been violated.

In that sense, we are all equal, and in practice freedom typically rings. I say typically because nothing in life is absolute. I'm not interested in arguing over the extreme and unfortunate exceptions to this thesis.

>Secondly, the law itself is controlled by the people in power...

And the people in power are controlled by the people who vote.

>And if you think you can argue your rights with that kind of power then you are naive. Our histories are littered with examples where individual and collective rights have been abused by those in power.

For every example you dig up where inequality exists, I can find another example where equality triumphs. Looking at some of the more noteworthy supreme court cases and the fact that our rights have evolved we cannot let the ideals of perfectionism taint such victories. Yes, we will miss somethings; yes we will take wrong turns; but we may also correct those mistakes. The imperfection of reality does not spell misfortune for the future in my eyes. Perhaps more imperfections, but assuredly more victories too.