We hear the term “fair” used a lot these days. As stated in prior commentaries, the Left is very skilled at manipulating the language to their political advantage — and this is representative.
Some (of many) examples: a) having open borders is fair for disadvantaged foreigners, b) giving special treatment to LGBTQ+ persons is fair for these mistreated minorities, c) promoting the insidious SEL, in K-12 is the fair thing for our children, d) undermining meritocracy is fair for those who have fewer skills, e) reducing our lifestyle and conveniences is what’s fair for the planet, f) cheating on elections is fair because the end justifies the means, g) etc., etc.
One reason this word was carefully chosen is due to its ambiguity. According to Merriam-Webster, the adjective fair can have ten (10) different meanings!
Another reason is: who can argue against advocating fairness?
Again this is where Critical Thinking can come to the rescue to separate the wheat from the chaff. Yes, all things being equal, fairness is a desirable attribute. But, we are rarely dealing with all things being equal situations.
All religions — like the Judeo-Christian standards that America was founded on — convey a message of ultimate fairness. So what, for example, does the Bible say about fairness? There are multiple references, but the New Testament parable about talents is indicative.
There are three (3) relevant messages in this story…
First, we are NOT given an equal playing field! In the parable, one servant gets five talents, another two, and a third only one. That’s a very large five times discrepancy. Note that in the parable, the two getting less did not complain, or demand equality (on the basis of fairness)! These differences are akin to the cards we are dealt in our life. There are enormous inequities in life — which actually makes things more interesting. For example, how would it be if every woman looked exactly the same?
Second, the parable spells out that fairness does not get meted out until the end (“after a long time” when the Master returns to settle up accounts). In other words, on our day of judgment we will likely be asked: “I gave you a certain amount of skills and opportunities. What did you do with them?”
Third, the parable makes clear that what counts is how well we do with what we are given. This is where fairness comes in: those who are given more, don’t get a free ride, but rather they have higher expectations imposed on them.
Those who don’t believe in God, or his fairness, say that we need to fix inequities here and now. This is an impossible aspiration for numerous reasons — like the fact that each person has multiple inequalities from every other person. How can they all be properly adjusted? They can’t.
Consider injecting height fairness into playing basketball. How is it fair to have tall players playing against shorter (vertically challenged) players? To make things “fairer” it is proposed that a basket scored by a seven-foot person would count 2 points, but one scored by a six-foot individual would count 10 points. The absurdity of adjusting for numerous personal differences is a fool’s errand.
Like a lot of what the Left says, the objective of “fairness” sounds nice, but it is subjective and anything but fair. Typically what is happening is raw politics. On the one hand allies of the Left (certain favored minorities) are being given privileges, while enemies (e.g., those financially successful) are targeted for penalties. The end result is anything but fair (e.g., biological men competing in women’s sports).
Lastly, there is an underlying assumption to all this: that Life is Fair. It is NOT! Atheists cling to imposing fairness now, as there is no afterlife where everything is properly accounted for.
This whole matter is easily resolved by Americans adhering to Judeo-Christian standards.
Note: The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has a free quarterly publication called Academic Questions (AQ). It has many excellent commentaries. Regarding the subject at hand, a recent AQ article by college professor Naomi Farber is well worth reading.
Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:
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WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.
C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.
Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.
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Another word that is similarly used is “Rich”. Politicians keep saying “Tax the rich” because no one thinks they are rich. But, in fact, the super rich know how not to be taxed.
The idea of an income tax was sold to us with the promise that we would tax the rich and a look at the 1913 IRS Form 1040 shows that the cut off was $3000 while the average annual income was under $1100. Plus, dividends were deducted from income because they had already been taxed at the corporate level. But, today dividends are considered as income and citizens are taxed at more inclusive income levels. So the definition of rich has changed to fit the needs of the government.
So, what I have determined as the current absolutely definite definition of the word “Rich” is, “Anyone who pays taxes”. If you pay taxes, by definition, you are rich. This means Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are actually not rich because they are not taxed due to their huge donations to charity. In many cases the charities are their own family foundations, but that is legal. Just ask the Clintons.
We have developed a very sophisticated language where words mean the opposite of what most people think they mean. Politicians are expert at using them to confuse the public.
Superb post. I love the use of the parable to make a really important point. The best response is often to ask someone to define their terms, or simply ask “what they mean.” The responses often surprise and always entertain, and result in either a thoughtful discourse or someone running away in anger and frustration when you don’t immediately embrace their rhetoric.