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This is more of a reflection than a question so feel free to respond in whatever direction your thoughts take you rather than being constrained by the need to respond to a specific question. A number of posts in another thread declaiming against the widespread nature, and evils of, inequality, started me thinking about inequality and now I am starting to wonder if there ever has been, or will be, a time when inequality of some form or other did not or will not exist. In the pre-existence, there are verses suggesting that Lucifer and Christ and Michael were in some ways better than other spirits. Abraham 3:16 – 19 can be understood as saying that all that is necessary for the existence of inequality is the existence of more than one thing. 16 If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me. 17 Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; and there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it. 18 Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal. 19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all. The Lord also showed Abraham "the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones." By implication, there were some who were not quite so great and noble. If there were some who were noble and great and some who were not, was there equality between them? The inequalities seem to continue in this life. Not all are born in this life with equal access to all the blessings that come from living the gospel. In fact, of all those who have ever lived only a tiny fraction will have had access to the blessings that come from living the gospel in this life, and given the various restrictions that some countries have placed on the teaching of the gospel within their country, only a fraction of those now living have full and equal access to these blessings. Of course those who will have missed out will have equal access to those blessings and opportunities in the spirit world but they will have forever missed out on the blessings that come from living the gospel with a physical body. At first glance, that doesn’t appear to be equitable. Perhaps we don’t even have equal access to God’s love and blessings because one group of His children – the Israelites – were a special and chosen group who received favours and blessings that others did not, despite their idolatry and wickedness. Additionally, although He loves us all, there have been a very rare few who He called His friends, but there is no clear indication that we are all His friends. We don’t seem to have equal access to the saving power of the atonement because it seems to be unavailable, or extremely difficult to access, by those who have committed murder or denied the Holy Ghost. After this life we will all be categorised and ranked and the equality which some seem to think is a hallmark of Zion might not exist in the after life – we will be placed in kingdoms that have differing levels of glory and even within the highest kingdom there will be varying degrees of glory. Of course there will be no poor amongst us, but that is not a complete or reliable indicator of equality. My personal belief is that in a very early stage of our eternal development, perhaps when we were still intelligences, before we were spirits, that some intelligences, by means currently unknown, progressed at a faster rate than others, and that by building on the benefits gained from this faster rate of progression, they have gained for themselves abilities and characteristics that led to them gaining advantageous positions both in the pre-existence, and in mortality. Some might describe this as inequality but perhaps it could also be described as the rewards of progress.