Are some people better than others?

My brother and I had a friendly discussion the other day. The discussion revolved around the question of, ‘are some people better than others?’

What does your gut instinct tell you right now? Can you admit that someone is better than someone else? Or, do you believe that we’re all equal?

My brother’s position was that no one is better than anyone else. We are all equals in his eyes. This seems very reasonable, I’ll admit. It feels like the right belief to have. In a way, I agree with this statement.

The neighbor is equal to the CEO of that big business, and the panhandler is equal to the friendly grocery bagging lady. No one is better than anyone else, and we all have the potential to do great (whatever your definition of great is) things with our lives.

On the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong with this statement of everyone being equal. I wasn’t comfortable admitting that Elon Musk was equal to me. I didn’t believe that Aristotle and Plato were equal to me. How could Albert Einstein, Voltaire and Ernest Hemingway be equal to me? It didn’t sit correctly. So, I ended up arguing for the side that some people are better than others.

I was okay admitting that Aristotle was a better person with me. I was perfectly comfortable saying that the other great minds of human history were better than me too. What’s wrong with that? I felt comfortable with the idea. Some people have done more for humanity than others.

As much as we want to believe that we’re all equal, I can’t help but think that we’re definitely not equal. Some people are better than others. Are you okay saying that? Does your ego allow you to think that?

Where do you stand?