Ethics, Equality, and Authority

When discussing ethics, the question of whether we should treat all people equally or should we behave differently with people close to us? For some unexplained reason this question lingered in my mind for days as I attempted to understand everything that it was saying.

Treating people equally ranges from the Civil Rights, the Feminist movement, the treatment of friends, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the list can go on and on. All of these things are pushing for equal treatment. In the scope of friendship and family, equal treatment seems to sway back and forth based with each person.

Friendships are based off of treatment in some cases. Usually friendships are based on equality; no one holds the upper hand or more power, and when that does occur friendships may turn a little bit rocky as they try to fix the problem at hand and return to a normal friendship. One without constraints.

Now when talking about family, the line of equality may become strained. Many times family relationships are often strong friendships as well. When dealing with cousins and siblings close to the same age the equality is generally not an issue. Moving from that relative age, to dealing with aunts, uncles, your parents, and grandparents, authority becomes a key player. And with authority, equality is not always present.

To answer the question posed from ethics; I agree that all people should be treated and treat each other with equality, but when authority plays a role in the relationship I think that equality is hard to attain, at least completely