A World at War with Itself
The podcast will be for a year, where Julie Finch-Scally, writer and broadcaster can interview people about life and the current situation of the world. She will discuss how so many things have changed over the past 80 years since her birth, and what the world needs to change to improve and save the planet from ourselves.
A World at War with Itself
Equality
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Are we all equal? In some places in the world, no; which is a shame, especially as we are physically all the same inside and out. What do most people think about Equality? Listen to six people give their opinions on the subject.
Hello there, this is Julie Finch Scaly again with you for a world at war with itself. We are currently discussing the category of nations, and today I am tackling the subject of equality. As with several other subjects, equality is one of those that raises a lot of eyebrows and opinions. This is what I found when I discussed three questions with Gabe, Mary, and Sharon, as well as the three men Stuart, Tim, and Tristan. I began with the three men, Stuart, Tristan, and Tim, and then spoke with our ladies Gabe, Mary, and Sharon. The first question I asked was, Do you believe in equality? And I don't just mean between men and women.
SPEAKER_02Oh yes. Oh yeah, we're all equal. All equal in this world. Yeah, I've I've always uh had the attitude that yeah, we're all equal. And uh the old joke is yeah, everyone's equal, but some people are more equal than others. I think they make it that way, but I'm convinced that we stand as an individual and we're all individuals and e equal with each other.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I believe if nobody should be judged differently based on any natural factors, uh age, gender, race, anything really. I yes I do.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Yes.
SPEAKER_05Equality is good because we're not saying we're the same. We're saying we're equal under the law. That's the idea of equality. You're equal, you've got the same right as someone else to freedom of speech, freedom of religion. It's a right to love who you want to love. So, yes, I am a a believer in equality.
SPEAKER_03Definitely believe in equality. Yeah, there we should always be looking to build each other up. There's no one person who's better than another. Everyone has their own unique gifts and talents, and we can always inspire other people to be better, and we can always look to other people to inspire ourselves to be better.
SPEAKER_06My second question was in the nineteen sixties, women who were born in and just after the Second World War started to raise their daughters with the knowledge that they could achieve anything. The guys seem to get left behind. Do you see that as a problem?
SPEAKER_04Well, everyone says they were left behind, but I don't see any evidence of it in terms of uh riches, access to anything they particularly want to do. There is a feeling that they're left behind, but it's a feeling. I don't believe it it's based in reality. I think there is more uh a competition. There's a saying amongst my friends at the moment, I don't know where it originated, but the saying is that to uh be in a woman's life, a man has to offer something above what she already has. And uh most women can provide most of what they need without reference to a man, which has not been the case in the past. And men don't seem to be able to step up to that mark. So I don't believe it's uh any harder for them. I think they just make it harder for themselves.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it is a problem. I think it's been addressed though. There was a certain stage, probably about twenty years ago, that the majority of achievers in high schools and and and universities seem to be all women. But sadly the they may not have been able to achieve a career because the males were all in that. But there was a p point where where females were being um encouraged more than males. I think that's evening out though. I think that's evened out now.
SPEAKER_06Well, let's hope so anyway.
SPEAKER_01I don't think it's a problem because it's resulted in a generation of women who will fight for their rights and for their freedoms and to be equal, but there's still in many pockets of society men without even trying end up ahead of women.
SPEAKER_03I think it may be a problem. I think it's definitely affecting the psyche of young boys today, that there is not enough talk, I guess, general talk about what it is for them to aspire to, but the same time there's two sides of the coin, and for a lot of time throughout history, women were left behind, and it was definitely important to have that conversation or have that be, because that women could step into the world and do what they wanted to do and to achieve more than simply being a home maker. But we need to bring the boys along as well. We need we ni like the original question about equality, it needs to be people in general. Like let's leave gender out of it and try to make it as fair a playing field as possible for both genders.
SPEAKER_00I disagree that guys are being left behind. It's more that the girls now have the same opportunities as the guys. So no, I don't it's not a zero-sum game and I don't believe it's a problem.
SPEAKER_05I really don't agree with that. I don't agree that men ever have been left behind, women have caught up. So I think that for so long women, of course, weren't allowed to finish school. This is what happened to my mother. She had to leave school early even though she was really smart, but her older brother got to stay through to leaving certificate, and so the women of the war years did a lot of work while the men were away, and then were r asking them to give that up again and some independence and some money for themselves. That wasn't going to sit well. And it was those women who were having the children then who the daughters were encouraged to. Yes, you can do whatever job you like. No, you don't have to be a nurse or a secretary. But my generation, so I was born mid-60s, my generation were the first of those where it became quite normalized that a girl I went to school with wanted to become a mechanic. I was still of the generation where you either left year ten or year twelve. Year ten you left if you were going to do a trade, and year twelve you went through to university. But women, my generation and the people I went to school with, we didn't question that we could do what it was that we chose to do, and our parents encouraged us to do what we wanted to do, because perhaps they hadn't been encouraged in the same way. And there were female jobs that were suitable until you got married and had babies, then you wouldn't want to work at all. And then there were the male-dominated careers which, funnily enough, paid higher.
SPEAKER_06And the final question: many people feel that some specific people are better than they are. They look at a famous film star, football player, or singer and idolise them. Yet those they idolise are probably not able to do some of the amazing things they can do themselves. Would there be a way people could be convinced that we all have something to offer this planet?
SPEAKER_05Yes, I think the celebrity is powerful and it's aspirational. You don't necessarily think that person's better than you, but you might admire someone for their acting ability or their singing ability or the way they look as a model or some amazing scientific achievement. Well, they're not a better person. They've just had more success. But not having that level of success is fine, and it's the usual, it's the norm. The outliers are the ones who you see as being super famous and super celebrities. So I think it's okay to admire people and for their skills and stuff. But what worries me is this culture of celebrity where really ordinary people who haven't actually done anything can go on a reality TV show and with no skill and be famous. Now, do people want to be famous or do they want to succeed at what they do? So this is a big thing. I think it's a lesson to learn to make sure our young people understand that an influencer on TikTok who looks a certain way, yeah, that's just a a job to them. You can admire that they've got so many followers, but you don't know them as a person. But the qualities that make someone truly great are the qualities of compassion, kindness, and humility. And so they're the heroes we should look for, the ones who have great physical skill, but also who come across on camera as being kind and generous and helping their community or whatever. So I think teach our children what a hero really looks like.
SPEAKER_00I believe that they can. I think people might should start idolising nurses, teachers, uh some of the people who are not to diminish the role of a pro athlete or a movie star, but there's more value in some of the salt of the earth types. So maybe we've seen documentaries about the front lines that health workers face. So maybe more education and elevation of these sorts of programs can show us that maybe we're not a famous movie star or a sports person, but we still have things we can contribute to a society.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's a tricky one because the social media world, I guess those who can project that image that they are super successful are always going to look like they're having a bigger, better, greater life. But it always, I guess, comes back to the basics and how are your interpersonal relationships? Like come right back to the dinner table in the family home. I think that is so much more important at the end of the day. And if people can just look inside themselves and go, Well, I actually I'm a good human being because I go out into the world and I treat people kindly and I work hard at my profession, whatever that may be. And just because it's not up there in the lights and in the spotlight, doesn't mean that it's not as good or as worthwhile. Um, how you would get people to understand that though, that's the challenge.
SPEAKER_01I think through focusing on the achievements of ordinary people, and even the Australian of the year is in a sense an ordinary person who's devoted the skills they've developed to uh achieve outcomes. So those sort of role models beyond the sports stars and the movie stars, those sort of people I think can make people appreciate that they can do and achieve wonderful things.
SPEAKER_04We've just got a society with values a bit out of whack. We reward people for swimming up and down a pool faster than someone else, which is ludicrous. Where a nurse on a ward overnight looking after five patients and stopping one from dying or being with one as they die has done far more good for the world in the same amount of time as a a training session for the person in the pool. We value the wrong things and I think we have to return to a better set of values to change that one. Our society is predicated on the assumption that people are not enough unless they make themselves notable in some way. And the reason it is set up that way is because there are so many things that can be sold to a person who's chasing some kind of excellence in that way. So we need to move away from that whole system before we can solve the problem of people within it who feel inadequate but uh uh ignoring the people doing the stupid things and celebrating the people doing the useful things is a good way to start, I think.
SPEAKER_02Of course there is. I'm a great advocate in in any strength in anyone being used. I've got friends who are wonderful musicians. I will never be like them and I admire them. But I know I'm very clever at certain things in my life and proud of the fact I think it's you've got to have that self-esteem within yourself, and we can all help each other doing that. It doesn't need government to do that. I think we just gotta live with each other, encourage people to do the best in their skills in life or their own knowledge, and for the better of everyone. And I've had I've had that attitude all my life. I've had a a life of thirty-odd years in local government, and I was always saying to someone who come and I've got another job coming up. Can you give me a reference? I said, Congratulations, what job is it? We're gonna sadly miss you, but I'm happy to do that. Better yourself and use your strengths, but you've got to encourage it. I've always encouraged people, my children as well and grandchildren, to achieve the best they can. And that's what's all that's about, and we'll all be better for it.
SPEAKER_06My thanks to Gabe, Mary, and Sharon, as well as Stuart, Tim, and Tristan. I do hope you found their answers to the questions thought provoking. I know I did. And that brings us to the end of today's world at war with itself. Please join me next Wednesday when I present another episode. Until then, have a great week.