The History of Equality, and How Close Different Civilizations Were to Attaining It

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The most tried-and-true method of kings or politicians justifying their hold on power is by promising equality (this was the slogan of the French Revolution, along with liberty and brotherhood). All societies promise equality (regardless of how poorly they delivery), from the dawn of humanity through the Enlightenment to today.

Equality has been reimagined continually, in the great world religions and the politics of the ancient world, by revolutionaries and socialists, Nazis and fascists, and postwar reformers and activists.

Today’s guest is Darrin McMahon, author of Equality: The History of an Elusive Idea. We trace equality’s global origins and spread from the dawn of humanity through the Enlightenment to today. Equality has been reimagined continually, in the great world religions and the politics of the ancient world, by revolutionaries and socialists, Nazis and fascists, and postwar reformers and activists.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.
0:08.0	If you read Economic Stories in your news feed, you're going to see the word inequality appear
0:12.0	quite a bit, usually in reference to how
0:14.0	CEOs may earn many thousands of times more than the workers at their companies.
0:18.4	But the idea of inequality is deeply embedded in Western thought, going at least as far back to the French
0:24.2	revolution, whose slogan was liberty, equality, and fraternity, and arguably equality
0:29.2	is one of the defining intellectual terms that goes to the dawn of humanity. In today's episode I'm speaking with Darren McMahon, author of
0:35.7	equality, the history of an elusive idea. I look at how nearly all
0:39.1	civilizations make use of this concept, but equality when it talks about letting people inside of the
0:44.6	in group of a society, it always has an outgroup that excludes.
0:48.5	This can be seen in grave sites from 30,000 years ago, where certain members of a tribe would be adorned with more
0:54.3	ornate jewelry than others.
0:56.1	Up to Greek city states that would grant citizenship to either landowners or soldiers or
1:01.0	others who carried the privilege to the rise of monotheism which made belief
1:04.5	a requirement to be in society's ingroup to the 20th century when both Marxists and
1:08.5	fascists weaponize the idea of equality to either try to appeal to outgroups
1:12.4	or make citizenship based on a shared ethnic heritage.
1:15.6	But look at how similar or dissimilar the idea of equality is in 2023 compared to its counterparts in the past
1:21.6	and how laden with baggage this term is and how it's a good
1:24.6	ideal to strive for, but it's also loaded with all sorts of historical pitfalls.
1:28.6	Hope we enjoy this discussion with Darren McMahon.
1:30.8	And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for word from our sponsors.
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