机会自由vs.机会均等
On Freedom of Opportunity


每日一语:

Poverty of possessions may easily be cured, but poverty of soul never. --- Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

财富上的贫穷并不难医治，但精神与灵魂上的贫穷却无法医治。 --- Michel Eyquem de Mongtaigne

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Dear Visitors:

Too often we hear the leftist slogans such as equality of opportunity which often mount to fostering a government policy to equalize wealth among the population. It is self-deceptive to demand equalization of opportunity and wealth, for such demand is based only on jealousy, and jealousy is an essential part of sin in human souls. To appeal to the human urge to be just like those on top is an effective yet evil trapping device commonly used by the socialists and the leftists in the world for their power-mongering.

It is easy for anyone who is born poor to fall into this evil trap. But if anyone with an adequate intellect and a decent soul will recognize the truth that opportunities in the world will never be equal among humans, because we are born different with different talents and endowments:

Even if we all start at the same starting line with Carl Lewis in 100 meter dash, we are not equal in opportunity with him. Carl Lewis will always win, for he has an unique talent and interest in this event. Is this unfair? No. For even Carl Lewis can't beat Mike Tyson in the ring, because Mike Tyson has an unique talent in boxing. These colorful and talented people are the very reason why this world is full of excitement and passion that benefit us all. An equal-oppotunity world would be a colorless and boring place where everyone is oppressed and depressed, for everyone is forced to be just like the other, even if he does not want to be.

Equality can only be meaningful under and by the value of freedom. It is Freedom of Opportunity, not equality of opportunity, that human beings truly value. Freedom to create, freedom to look for values, freedom to improve oneself, freedom to stay and leave, freedom to choose or not to choose..., these freedoms are what make human lives meaningful. In these freedoms we can truly realize our own individual values in life, for each and everyone of us is responsible for our own free choices. We take credit and bear consequences for the free choices we make ourselves as individuals.

Freedom of opportunity means that if I can't beat Carl Lewis on the track or Mike Tyson in the ring, I can start a new event, create a new opportunity for myself that maximize my talent and chance to succeed. Bill Gates is only one such example: A school drop-out at a very young age, he could not see the opportunity for himself individually if he just travel the road most people travel. So he started his own business with his own unique concepts in electronic software. And by travelling a road others had not seen or dared to travel, he created his own starting line that most people at the time would never want to stand behind.

Freedom of opportunity means taking rare initiatives and bear bigger risks. Many fail in the beginning but a few tenacious ones will continue to initiate, learning from their past mistakes. They will eventually succeed and become the unmovable movers to push history forward. America has a high percentage of such risk-takers than any other place in the world, so America takes the lead in pushing history forward among the wrold communities.

America is a land of opportunity, not because it gives people equal chance to succeed. By assuming equality of opportunity, government, not individuals, become the paramount factor in a society for only government can decide what is an equal or unequal opportunity. With such a premise, we all inevitably become the subjects of our government and creatures of our own environment.

America is a land of opportunity, because it respects and guarantees individuals their freedom to create their own opportunities, according to their own talents, endowments and comparative advantages in any particular field, some of these fields are still yet to be defined and created by these individual inventors, explorers, adenturers and initiators.

So don't just follow the slogans shouted by the majortiy led by a few power mongers. Use your brains and souls to direct yourself to comprehend reality, to create your own opportunity, to progress with your own pace and to succeed with your own terms.

Best. Kai Chen 陈凯