Playing the Equality Game
Now and then it's great to gather a group of friends and play some cards. The best games are those who involve a lot of mathematical thinking and tactics, because they require people to take use of logical assessments when playing, in contrast to games where the final outcome more or less is dependent on who receives the best cards (luck).
When thinking about how a game of cards works, you come to the conclusion that it's very much similar to a group of individuals in a society. You've got the leader, the ace, who seals the deal in most games. You've got the kings, queens and jacks, who are good to combine and often seen as a sort of entity when playing. Then you count down from ten to two; farmers, social workers and different forms of craftsmen. The better you are at what you do, the higher you rise. This hierarchy is the basis for playing cards, because if there weren't any hierarchy, there'd be no reason to play - and what would you do with 52 generic cards that you can't play with?
The modern man hates this hierarchy. If he were producing cards, he'd probably kill the king, try to persuade the queen into becoming a feminist, and incite the rest of the crowd to revolt against the jacks and overthrow the government. "We Demand Equality" is the new slogan of the modern society. Never mind that most sixths barely know what food they should buy in order to stay healthy, never mind that the tenths lack the leadership abilities and that jacks really never were running the government anyway; we're modern now and we demand equality between all people around the world.
You don't have to be a genius to figure out how fun the modern equality game is. Imagine playing poker and sitting on five sixths for the entire round.
"What do you got?"
"Five sixths, and you?"
"Five sixths. Who wins?"
This is the key to understand where this equality nonsense comes from. When playing cards, you do it of course to relax, talk and have some fun, but your aim is always to win. For modern people this is horrible, since it means: a) not all cards carry equal value, b) someone has to be discriminated; we can't all be kings and c) if someone wins, that means the others have to lose (OMFG!). This is not tolerable for the insecure modern individual; he wants all people to be equal, because he doesn't want anybody to win the game. He hates competition and hierarchy because it assumes we as people have different abilities and that people can be ranked accordingly. In modern society, every single individual is important, regardless of their ability. If you can't work, if you can't lead, if you can't create art, at least you can sit on your butt all day and watch Seinfeld. "He's a human being too, you know!"
I don't believe in equality, because I'd be bored to death playing cards with people who are afraid of losing the game. Because that's what it's all about: a fear of not meeting the requirements, a fear of not being accepted by other people; a fear of being oneself. See life as a deck of cards; we're born with different abilities and talents, which is your poker hand. If you're clever, you use your abilities well and play a good game. If you're a fool, you decide you're too afraid to see what you can do, so you throw the cards down on the table and resign. Not only is it pathetic to give up without even having tried playing, but it's equally foolish because someone else will step on you and take your place. If you're too afraid to play, then don't play, but don't force the rest of us to resign as well. We, the people who love life, want to try our cards out before we die, even though we might lose. Losing is part of the game and if you realize that, you have suddenly everything to win.
by Alex Birch
May 27, 2007
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