The Difference Between "Fairness" and "Equality"

I resolved at the end of last year to
focus on politics less, because ultimately it's nothing more than
bukkake theater (yes, talking politics is like a ridiculous amount of
masturbation on whomever is listening). I figured, three hours a day
is enough, and here I am with a backlog of three topics I'd like to
focus on already.



Turn on the news, listen to politicians, listen to the unwashed masses who congregate to shout
down anyone who does not like their pet beliefs, or the mindless
pervert Hollywood thespians who think that being an expert liar makes
them an expert in everything, and you will hear one word over and
over. One strange word. One word that can mean so many things that it
means absolutely nothing: "fairness". What is fairness?
When people say the "rich" should pay their "fair
share", what do they mean?



First of all there is no objective
definition of what is "rich". From people I've met I can
say that being "rich" means "having more money than
you currently have." If you make $60,000 then making $90,000
will mean you're rich. If that same person were to get a raise and
make $90,000, then that person certainly would not be rich, rich
would mean making $120,000. The definition of "rich"
conveniently means "having more money than I do now." Few
ever consider themselves "rich," a rich person is always
someone who makes more.


Second, there is no objective
definition of what a "rich" person's "fair share"
is. When you ask anyone who says "the rich should pay their fair
share" to give a dollar amount they foam at the mouth and repeat
themselves, louder and louder, until you give up asking. A "rich"
person's "fair share" is always "more than they are
currently paying." If someone is paying 35% taxes, then 39% is
"fair." If that same person's taxes are raised to 39% then
43% would be "fair." Like being "rich", what is
"fair" is a sliding scale that has no real definition. In
France 75% tax is "fair", an amount even Will Smith, who
promotes paying his "fair share," became outraged over
responding thank God I live in America.



However, like bukkake, the situation
gets stickier still. It's not only the "rich" who should
pay their "fair share," no, absolutely everything in the
entire world must be made "fair." But, as we have just
seen, "fairness" has no fixed meaning. So, how does one go
about making the world "fair"? Since "fairness"
means whatever those in power think it means, making things "fair"
means one thing: pernicious statism. More and more government
overreach makes things "fair." Certain groups of people are
born with unnatural advantages, mostly white men, so laws must be
made to balance the playing field. Those groups, born with unnatural
advantages, must be put at a legal disadvantage so as to make things
"fair" for those groups who are born with a disadvantage.
There must be racial quotas like "affirmative action," and
sexual quotas like "Title IX," which destroy higher
education, destroy school sports, and destroy quality productivity in
the workplace.


Now, I am not saying that people are
not born with advantages or disadvantages. I don't care. Whether
people are born with advantages or not, it doesn't matter to me. It
might be a true statement, it might be a false statement, I don't
care. I'm not even going to debate the issue.



Some people have incredible talent. I'm
not going to write sonnets like Beethoven or play football like Tom
Landry (who played for the Giants, and was damn good, before becoming
coach of the Cowboys). Does that put me at a natural disadvantage?
Who's to say. There are people with incredible talent but cannot feed
or dress themselves. Having a fantastic talent does not automatically
give someone an advantage over someone else who does not have as much
talent but works fifty times harder to develop their ability and has
greater ambition to succeed (which is something else Will Smith said
about himself). What I don't want is some law that says Tom Landry
has to have weights tied to his legs because playing football against
me is not fair. I don't want some law that says children's sports
teams can't keep score because losing hurts self esteem, and everyone
gets a trophy, and kids can't fail a class and have to be pushed
through even if they're as dumb as a hammer because no child can be
"left behind".



What I do like is equality. What is
equality? Equality is what is talked about in the Constitution.
Everyone gets a chance to prove their worth in life, even if it means
certain people have to work harder to get ahead. Everyone gets the
same protection under the law (no, killing a cop is not worse than
killing 20 ordinary people). Everyone pays the same percentage of
taxes, and surprise, rich people will still pay more than poor people
because 10% of $100,000 is still five times more money than 10% of
$20,000. Everyone is born into this world of suffering the same way,
completely helpless, confused, unaware, and frightened. Everyone has
a right to their life, liberty, and property; rights which cannot be
infringed upon without due process.



I've talked about politics now, I've
had my release, and your brains, my valued couple of readers, have
just been soiled for that release. Have I accomplished anything in
these 942 words? Not anything substantive, not anything that will
change the world, just keep my head from exploding for one more
day.


Always Love.