Equality

I am building a utopian world, one where dragons are struggling to accept humans and humans are struggling to accept dragons. Leadership, species needs, and obvious differences aside, they are attempting to make things as equal as possible. As the series grows, the readers will see even more of this.

As a writer steeped in modern American culture, and not living in a cave, glaring instances of inequality in my own culture and country can be annoying. There are women who are fighting for supremacy, there are men who think they occupy the seat of power by right and are not willing to share their comfy position in society. There are marginilized groups because they are different and there are groups that are traditionally victims of other people’s claim to power.

Equality is not necessarily treating everyone the same. That is a child’s understanding of the term. If that were true we would all get the same prescription for glasses, the same medications, and the same surgeries. All our budgets would be the same and our roads would get the same treatment whether they needed it or not.

But the idea of equality under the law presumes that we all have to follow the same rules. The laws are blind and without judgment… presumably. Does anyone believe that there are not separate laws for urban and rural settings? Even within the same state? Are the laws applied differently for rich people as opposed to poor? Does your faith, color, sexual orientation, and age matter as to how you are treated by police and the courts? It doesn’t even matter if you are the victim or the perpitrator. Nobody wants to be treated like the transexual Hispanic stopped for a speeding ticket, much less if she has to ask a cop for directions or help.

Our society is not kind to people who are different. We are not good to victims, we do not create an equal environment for everyone. However, we hold equality as an ideal – which I believe is better than some places where it is not even on their list.

So I created a fictional world where equality is debated, it is an ideal, and they have formed a group that is working hard to achieve it. They have many members of the group that are different, that have in some cases extraordinary needs. Come see how they manage while still granting everyone the greatest amount of freedom that they can.