In life you may be poor or rich, but death is the great equalizer...Howsoever you live, it makes no difference; death happens equally. In life, equality is impossible; in death, inequality is impossible. Become aware of it, contemplate it. — Rajneesh
Yet, if one looks at the statistics, we see a disproportionate number of deaths among the poor, the underprivileged, the minority, the weak, the downtrodden; any individual or group on the wrong side of an inequality has the unenviable distinction of having an increased risk of dying prematurely — TheMadFool
Mind you, I don't mean that we should cull the weak — TheMadFool
Death is NOT, by a long shot, the great equalizer. It, if anything, is more like the hitmen in the service of the power mafia. — TheMadFool
True happiness is the great equalizer, because it comes only to those who truly deserve it. — Tzeentch
Wouldn't this imply no selfless and caring person has ever had a hard life? And that no selfish and toxic person ever had a good one? — Outlander
Let me guess. You're fortunate enough at present to call yourself happy? — Outlander
It is the absolute nothingness which results through death that makes it an equaliser and neither the manner of the death nor the circumstances have any bearing on this effect. — Judaka
Maybe in death we experience eternal calm without the annoyances of life. Would it matter a million years from now if ten years ago someone had more fun than you? Anyway, I think everyone's experience of life is very similar. Envy is not so much sinful as illogical — Gregory
You're not a very patient person. — Outlander
Oh you better not. Some of the weakest people you can imagine are some of the strongest physically or in terms of social power. They never had to do anything for themselves or go through what someone who has to struggle to do what others have the inate and unearned ability to do. True weakness seeks power, be it physically or by position of authority. Anything to be the bigger man and lord over others without ever actually having to sacrifice, risk, or otherwise "do" anything difficult.
While the scales were forever tipped in the battle of brain versus brawn in the favor of the former the first time a tree fell atop a boulder creating the first lever, with each subsequent innovation an obscenely overwhelming victory for the former, strength is only half physical. At most.
In regards to the previous sentence, you're not incorrect. If something ever happens to the favorable circumstance or physical endowments one decides to build not only their entire identity and sense of self on but meaning of life on as well, it'd be like watching the training wheels fall off of a bike ridden by a toddler. At best you'd be left with an angry, confused child- at worst something not even Jane Goodall would recognize as human. If they keep themselves alive that is. Which is a toss up.
Not everyones like this. Any sensible person would want to keep themselves healthy. Of course. One who chooses either brain or brawn over the other will never know either. — Outlander
They won't die? You can't have weakness without strength and vice versa. There's always going to be someone on top and another beneath. Someone has to pay the piper. The difference is one will never have to face their weaknesses while the other will never be able to hide behind circumstance or "an easy life" and call themselves strong — Outlander
What means you by that? — TheMadFool
All that matters is this: the weaker side dies more quickly and in more brutal ways than the stronger. — TheMadFool
Well if that's all that matters. More quickly yet more brutal eh? That's.. an interesting conclusion. Are we still defining strength as physical or mental or a toss up? Again, you'd be surprised what a few inventions can do.. — Outlander
I can't — Outlander
Basically, we've yet to hear your definition of strength and whether or not it is primarily physical or mental. — Outlander
I beg to differ. Is there a difference or not between a short life and a long life? Don't people say that someone was fortunate to have lived to a ripe old age? Don't people say things like, "he died too young?" All these common utterances indicate a felt injustice in dying early, kicking the bucket prematurely. In other words, death occurring too early counts as a loss, vindicating my claim that death is not an equalizer - some die too young - this is unfair - and those that do die young are usually underprivileged - this is also unfair. A double whammy. — TheMadFool
Well, name one occasion where the weaker side ends up on top in the game of survival. — TheMadFool
This really opened my eyes.
What you write makes sense. All these years, I had read 'Death as the equalizer' in a simplistic fashion - no one escapes death. Now, I understand it a tad better. — zoey
Maybe in death we experience eternal calm without the annoyances of life. — Gregory
I got one! Say society turns into a supremacist dystopia where the physically (and I suppose for this example mentally, either of) superior are allowed to live in some "super city" where everything is perfect and the rest of us average folk have to scrounge on the outskirts of barely maintained living complexes. This super city the elite live in is walled off and can be sealed off in an airtight fashion just in case. Now say, in their attempts at security and longevity their defenses end up failing or malfunctioning during an outbreak or major weapons malfunction or a nuclear meltdown, trapping everyone inside and resulting in there being no survivors. Stuff like that could happen. — Outlander
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness. — The Architect (The Matrix)
In some twisted sense, it's comforting to know everyone dies no matter how unequal we are in life.
Yet, if one looks at the statistics, we see a disproportionate number of deaths among the poor, the underprivileged, the minority, the weak — TheMadFool
The idea that goodness produces happiness, and badness produces misery. — Tzeentch
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