Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.
quote by Alexis de Tocqueville
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
It was not their irritating assumption of equality that annoyed Nicholai so much as their cultural confusions. The Americans seemed to confuse standard of living with quality of life, equal opportunity with institutionalized mediocrity, bravery with courage, machismo with manhood, liberty with freedom, wordiness with articulation, fun with pleasure - in short, all of the misconceptions common to those who assume that justice implies equality for all, rather than equality for equals.
Trevanian in Shibumi
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Emotional Subjection
There is no tyrant quite like feeling.
A bondage that cannot be released.
All we do will forever succumb to it.
Your suffering means that you're human.
Your mind is a warfield.
And your heart is the opposition.
No solution can truly be found.
Forever at war with yourself.
You will obey.
You will cry for it.
You will fall to your knees for it.
You will be numbed by it.
You will be reminded of it.
It cannot be neglected much longer.
Slavery is freedom.
Slavery is freedom.
Slavery is freedom.
Slavery is freedom.
You will obey.
poem by Aaron Lynn
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Modern Slavery
Slavery comes from the stables of darkness,
creating efficient funds,
free labor,
a business without kindness,
calling it free favors,
making money off the helpless,
songs being sung,
telling you which way to go,
an escape route.
soon to be war,
becoming equal,
fighting to settle the score,
freedom soon to be reigned,
a time for change,
still fighting for freedom today,
a new way,
for better days,
to become equal,
to become enlightened by one another,
as freedom of life calls you name,
singing a verse,
saying no more,
we are equal,
living amongst one another,
sharing laughs,
healing pain,
to this day,
we still fight for change.
poem by Joe Foster
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Sonnet: All Men Are Equal before God
The things we find are of unequal size,
Amongst mountains, rivers, places and trees!
Two men have unequal virtues and vice;
So are the beasts, dew-drops, the wind and breeze.
The surface of the sea has wavelets, waves;
Two grains of sand ashore aren’t equal-sized;
Unequal are all men on land and caves;
A hierarchy appears that looks much lysed.
Despite great differences, there’s harmony!
All things are equal ’fore the eyes of God;
Though different hives make differently honey,
The souls of men appear alike to Lord.
One isn’t made like the other in this world;
Yet, we can all make it to God’s Abode!
poem by John Celes
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There is nothing more unequal, than the equal treatment of unequal people.
quote by Thomas Jefferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Capitalism Battles Freedom
when capitalism battles freedom,
you get what we've become...
profit begats slavery,
the many become enslaved.
founded on freedom?
we took this land from
the Native Americans,
took their way of life,
their rights, their dreams...
in the name of God?
of progress?
we brought over the slaves
from the African shores...
to work, to use, to abuse...
we took their lives, their way of life,
their hopes and dreams...
in the name of free enterprise?
of profit?
we treated our women like possessions,
second class citizens at best.
they were expected to be silent,
to obey, to bear our children,
to cook and wash...
they had to fight for years
to get the right to vote...
even longer for equal wages...
in the name of righteous judgement?
of divine directive?
and now, we the poor,
of all colors and creeds,
are corporate owned.
held under the thumb
of the elite, put down
and trampled on...
our way of life taken,
our hopes for the future dashed...
faceless numbers that stink of poverty!
in the name of wealth and power?
in the name of apathetic profit?
profit at all costs!
capitalism... or something else,
fair, equal, with hope and chance
and dreams...
the way of freedom,
when dignity overcomes profit!
when the human being is worth more
than the dollar and the deal!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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A Classroom Assignment
On Freedom
By Thomas S. Sidney, aged 12 Years
October 21st, 1828
Freedom will break the tyrant's chains,
And shatter all his whole domain;
From slavery she will always free
And all her aim is liberty.
On Slavery
By George E. Allen, aged 12 Years
October 21st, 1828
Slavery, oh, thou cruel stain,
Thou does fill my heart with pain;
See my brother, here he stands
Chained by slavery's cruel hands.
Could we not feel a brother's woes,
Relieve the wants he undergoes?
Snatch him from slavery's cruel smart,
And to him freedom's joy impart?
poem by Anonymous Americas
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Equal
There is no equality without stubbornness,
To tell inside this seeking thought
So as to inculcate the meanings too dear.
With both eyes and with both ears
My jests do not disrupt.
I have a moment when equality is in the hearing
And sight, then you fall from the height of a tree
And land with a bang due to someone who pushed
You.
He thinks you inferior or superior,
And you define him as an equal man
Regardless of his appearance which does not see.
But you are barely living now
But in a pool of blood.
He is above you, but he is the same,
He is just a man so equal yet so evil.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Reformation
When the slavery was abolished,
The equality was not envisaged.
The equality has been established,
Thanks to the masters’ generosity.
Applauded is the generosity.
It’ll translate itself to fraternity.
20 01 2009
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Let My People Go!
Thank God a Southern triumph was not to be;
victory for the South was victory for slavery!
'We too fight for freedom, our Captain is God, '
but did you not know, all are created equal, by God?
Therefore be your brother white black red or yellow,
free your brother, cruel fields of slavery, must fall fallow!
Written as a rebuttal to ‘We Conquer or Die’ by John Pierpont. The above quoted line is from ‘We Conquer or Die’.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. … We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.
quote by John F. Kennedy
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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We Are Not Cattle!
they destroyed the Native Americans,
killed, raped, converted them
to slavery with a sword....
and built freedom on this premise...
on the backs of African-American slaves,
and immigrants that fled oppression....
now the actions of the past
are demanding their price!
and the battle again
will be fierce and harsh!
freedom isnt built on oppression!
they'll be no more herding,
we are not cattle!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Two opposite things
Man cannot conceive like woman.
Is he equal to woman?
Woman will not rape as man does.
Is she equal to man?
Man is plus and woman, minus.
They aren’t equal.
Man is a positive and woman, a negative.
They aren’t equal.
Equality is not the need of the hour.
fitting to each other.
Union is not of two equal things
But two opposite things.
Man is a tree and woman, a vine.
Clinging is assured
17.10.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Then I Will Abide...
when justice no longer has a color,
and is not defined by economic status,
religious or sexual preference,
then i will abide by your laws!
when freedom is as real in the alleys,
the dumpsters, and on the streets
as it is in your brick houses,
then i will believe in your freedom.
when all men and women,
of all colors and ages,
are treated with equal dignity
and with respect,
then i will stand for your equality.
when each of you can look
into the eyes of your neighbor,
and see God...
then i will abide in your humanity!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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In equal footings
I brought up two sons on equal footing
They grew in unequal size in wealth
The rich son limited his share to that
Of the other in giving me pension.
Yes, both bring me up in equal alms.
04.02.2007
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.
quote by Thomas Mann
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Freedom Doesnt
freedom doesnt starve it's children,
freedom doesnt sell it's people into slavery.
freedom doesnt see skin color,
doesnt always speak english.
freedom doesnt have one religion.
freedom doesnt choose sexual preference.
freedom doesnt regulate love.
freedom doesnt trade joblessness for profit.
freedom doesnt take your home.
freedom doesnt create reservations, slums,
and low rent trailer parks.
freedom doesnt ban books.
freedom doesnt invade and conquer.
freedom doesnt trade blood for oil.
freedom doesnt imprison those it cannot use.
freedom doesnt live by the lie.
freedom doesnt have different levels of justice,
depending on how much money you have.
freedom doesnt abandon it's elderly.
freedom doesnt turn away the sick.
freedom doesnt kill in the name of god.
freedom doesnt lie about the past.
damn it to hell!
this doesnt smell like freedom!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Poem Of Pesach Is Freedom
The poem of Pesach is Freedom-
Freedom from slavery,
Freedom from idols,
freedom for the people of Israel
as example to Mankind.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Frederick Douglas taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but reading is still the path.
quote by Carl Sagan
Submitted by Catalin Popescu
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We must recover the element of quality in our traditional pursuit of equality. We must not, in opening our schools to everyone, confuse the idea that all should have equal chance with the notion that all have equal endowments.
quote by Adlai E. Stevenson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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