Dr. Susan D. Anderson is the author of three memoirs and over 100 articles on the theme of equality. You can find her on Bluesky at @sunderlassie.bsky.social, on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-anderson-52665144/), and on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/stores/Susan-D-Anderson/author/)

I believe that we live our best life when we are treated with equality – without prejudice of any kind against us, without anyone behaving as superior to us in any way. I believe that we live our best life when we treat other people as our equals – all people, without any sense of superiority towards anyone, without prejudice towards anyone for any reason.

When there is something about us – our laws, our customs, our election choices, our personal interactions, the culture of our workplace, our family conversations, or our demeanor out in public – that comes from a sense of prejudice and superiority, it diminishes the quality of our life. It affects the quality of our family relations, our local, state, and national governments, and our international trade and peacekeeping efforts. Whether we are a direct victim, a perpetrator, or a bystander, any act of prejudice or bigotry contaminates our lives. The stronger our sense of equality with others – individually and as nations – the greater the opportunities for mutual well-being.

That is why I believe it is important to talk about the many ways that a sense of prejudice and superiority is an illness that continues to make our society sick and inferior to the vision of a democracy. It has infiltrated American life to the point that we often don’t notice how ridiculous our efforts have become to put others down or to keep others out, and in the process, how small and mean our own lives have become. The result of all this is that as a society, we are increasingly inferior to many other democracies around the world that have created finer schools, universal health care, advanced prison systems, and better working conditions.

The articles on Living As Equals are about building a better life, as equals. From events that grab the headlines to small acts of daily living, I talk about the ways that we are all part of creating a democratic society. Anything we can do as individuals to act and speak as if we grasp the notion of equality will improve our own lives as well as the lives of those we encounter along the way.