Is There Really Such a Thing As Fairness?
“With liberty and justice for all…” That’s what every American was taught growing up, but what does this phrase mean exactly? When we think of “liberty and justice for all”, we’re thinking things should be equal and…fair for everyone. After all, that’s what America is all about, isn’t it? And that’s what many other countries strive for, isn’t it?
Well, we may want to be fair towards everyone, and we may try our best to be fair, but there’s one thing about humans that I should mention: Humans are selfish people, and yes, that includes me. We may make societal rules that’ll benefit a majority of those people, but we primarily make these rules to benefit us the most.
It’s human nature. Humans are animals, after all, and we have instincts just like the other animals. Naturally, selfishness comes in with animal instinct. Selfishness is partly how so many animals humans have survived for so long… at least, that’s what I think.
That’s probably why I truly doubt there’s really such a thing as fairness. When we think of fairness, we think of equality. And we all know that some humans are better at some things than others and vice versa, so how can there be any equality? There isn’t… at least, not in general. Therefore, is there really such a thing as fairness?
“But Emily!” you might be saying, “I try to be fair as often as possible!” And that may be true, but let’s think about that statement for a minute. Let’s come up with a scenario. Suppose you’ve baked some cookies for you and your two friends. There are twelve cookies on the pan, so, by using basic division, each person gets four cookies. That sounds fair, right?
Here’s the catch. As you’re giving away the cookies, you pick the best ones — the chewiest ones, the ones with the most chocolate chips, the warmest ones, the biggest ones, and so on. Your friends, on the other hand, get the cookies that aren’t as good as yours. That doesn’t sound fair, now does it?
Let me give you another example. When I was a little girl, I always picked the biggest slices of pizza every time my mother made it (which is often, even to this day). One time, when I was in second grade, my mother picked out the pieces before she told me it was time to eat.
On one plate, there were the biggest slice and the third-biggest slice. On the other plate, there was the second-biggest slice and another smaller price. I tried to put the second-biggest slice with the biggest slice, but my mother stopped me. So, I took the plate with the biggest slice and the third-biggest slice. My mother tried her best to be fair, but I was trying to be selfish, which is the opposite of fair.
That’s the thing about humans: we always put ourselves over others. Whether we do this on purpose or not is not relevant. The fact of the matter is that we all do it. Here’s another scenario to explain this.
Suppose you’re driving somewhere, and you end up forgetting to turn on your blinker before turning. Now, you may be justifying this because there were too many things on your mind, or you were distracted by external forces. Now, let’s get the perspective of the people you might’ve affected. Since they don’t know you personally, they’re probably thinking you’re some inconsiderate jerk. The vice versa can also be applied.
“But Emily, what does this have to do with fairness?” you might be asking. That’s a good question. When we screw up, we make excuses for ourselves. When someone else screws up, we don’t do the same thing. The vice versa can be applied. With that logic, how can we be fair towards each other?
“Well, what about courts? They’re legally required to be fair!” you’re probably arguing. First of all, I would almost never rely on fairness from a courtroom, especially in certain countries (with high conviction rates like Japan and the less said about countries like Iran, the better). Second, even if none of that can be applied, the judges, lawyers, jury members, etc. are still human beings like you and me. They have their biases. If they know, can relate or emphasize with the defendant, they’re more likely to go lenient than if the defendant was a complete stranger.
And that’s basically why things can’t be fair — bias. We all have bias, no matter how much we try to be objective. Have you ever heard of the phrase “Life isn’t fair.”? It’s a popular saying for a reason. Life isn’t fair because our human biases and selfishness don’t make things fair. We may wish life was fair, but we really want life to cater to ourselves as much as possible. But what if what’s considered fair to us isn’t considered fair to others? That doesn’t sound fair to others, does it?
So, do I think there’s really such a thing as fairness? No, I don’t. We humans may try to be as objective as possible, but it’s our biases and selfishness that get in the way and, thus, make things unfair for everyone else.
