Many people have fought for equality, over many centuries. The basis of inequality is the lack of freedom. These freedoms are on both an individual and group basis. Today, not many people oppose allowing women to vote, or allowing different races to eat in the same restaurant. However, on a fundamental level, is equality dangerous? Can a world like the one illustrated in the story “Harrison Bergeron” from Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House become reality? Can freedom and equality become harmful to society? In essence, can equality be taken to an extreme that leads to the loss of freedom? To all these questions the answer is yes. Equality is directly opposite to freedom. But equality is also essential for freedom. Equality and freedom are symbiotic ideas. Parasites that feed on and destroy the basic building blocks of each other, but cannot live without the other. According to John Locke in The Second Treatise of Government, the state of nature is a “state of perfect freedom.” and equality where no man has power over another. (Lock 8). Locke also realizes that the state of nature is not sustainable. The state of freedom is based on reason. Not all men are reasonable. We thus enter a state of war. (Lock 18). The American political system itself was formed due to a state of war. The taxes imposed on the American colonies by the King of England were unreasonable and without representation of those who paid them. Thomas Jefferson viewed this taxation and subsequent forced collection as a violation of the fundamental liberties with which every man is born. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable… middle of paper… dominions which God has given us according to Locke. Will we all become equal due to the imposed obstacles or will our freedoms continue to be expanded, leading to greater equal opportunities for all? Will gays and lesbians finally be able to marry in all 50 states? Will the use and sale of marijuana become legal, and if so, will it be regulated. We, as free people, have the right to die, and doctors are held accountable if they comply with that request. Freedom and equality are very dangerous ideas because when one has too much influence the other is lost in society. Can we as human beings continue to expand freedoms and equality while maintaining the necessary balance between the two for a society that conforms to Locke's state of nature and provides all citizens with equal access to our "unalienable rights"? With proper management, these two dangerous ideas remain useful.