I am not the first king of controversy

I've recently been thinking of a few things that people might find controversial. Maybe they won't, maybe they will. I'm not really all that settled on them yet, so I won't be writing large essays on them. They're just ideas that have been bouncing around inside my head for a bit. Here's what I've been thinking:

- The American constitution says we're all created equal. But that is clearly not the case. Clearly, some people are better humans than others. That guy who raped two babies, is he equal to you? or anyone else? In my opinion, some people are not as good humans as others. I like how we give everyone the opportunity to succeed... and in our society we keep giving people chances. How many chances should we give someone before we acknowledge that they fail at life? And given that our physiology and brain chemicals play a large part in our decision making, is it unfair that our society punishes and rewards people based on the decisions they make? Just a few thoughts.

- Should I feel guilt for the bad things that have happened to people in the past? I'm talking two, three, four, five hundred years ago. Given that I did not support them in any way, would have opposed them had I been alive, and feel bad that they happened, should I feel guilty about them? Should I feel an emotional connection? Should I feel guilty about the way the Zulus massacred hundreds of thousands of Africans? Or the way several Chinese dynasties ruthlessly killed their way to an empire? Or the way the Mongols raped their way across hundreds of cultures and people groups? Or the way Europeans took/bought slaves from African tribes? I guess what I'm getting at is: should I feel the "white guilt" that seems to come with being a white person of English background? Cos I don't really feel it. Shaun mentioned that in some cases we're benefiting from past actions that our culture took against other cultures. I guess that's true. But should I feel guilty about it? Given the fact that a) I cannot change it, b) I didn't ask for it, and c) it's all in the past anyway?

- At what point should we stop judging a culture subjectively? At what point do we sit down and objectively say "This part is good, this part is crap. This culture is better for humans than that culture"? Because clearly, not all cultures have equal value. Just because a culture has survived to the present day, does not mean it deserves to continue, any more than the freaky, wacked-out dead tribes that ate their young and promoted incest. Where do we draw the line and say "Your culture has significant failings. You are destroying your people. This needs to stop." Do we even draw that line? Do we have a responsibility to save people who are being ruined by their culture? Or do we leave them to rot in a cesspit? I really don't know.

- Possibly most controversial of all: I actually quite liked Stepbrothers, the movie. It was funny.

Anyway, just thought I'd get that all out there. Like I said, I'm not settled in any of my opinions yet, I've just been knocking them all around a bit. I'm sure new facts and information will come along that helps me form more solid ideas.