Economic fairness is impossible: an oxymoron. Since economic activities are inherently varied and often competitive and since one size doesn't fit all and not everyone can win in a competition, no such thing as fairness is possible unless it simply means no one may be prevented from taking part. Certainly, however, the outcome will most likely be very different for different participants.
The sort of fairness and equality President Obama and his supporters are after may be achieved around a family or fraternity dinner table or in a last will and testament where goods are being distributed among family members who each expect the fulfillment of an implied promise from elders to receive a "fair share" of the wealth left to them. "Fair" here makes sense since the idea is that no one is going to get much less or more than another. But no such expectation makes any sense throughout a country! The government owns nothing and can thus leave nothing to the citizenry without engaging in massive redistribution of wealth it doesn't have any authority to distribute or redistribute.
When fairness is demanded, it implies that the government does have the authority to assign winners and losers in the economic sphere, as if we still lived in a monarchy awaiting the decision of the king as to who will be the beneficiary of his largess. All the subjects can hope they will receive a fair share of the wealth of the country.
But in a free country, with the principle of private property rights as the law of the land, the king or government has no business engaging in wealth distribution so the issue of fairness is entirely moot. It's a dream and where attempted, it leads to a police state. All that Mr. Obama needs to do to appreciate this is to read George Orwell's Animal Farm, a wonderful parable about what happens when equality is demanded and government tries to produce it. He might also check out the late Robert Nozick's famous Wilt Chamberlain example, from this book Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1973) where he shows that when goodies are fairly distributed among people they will turn right around and rearrange it all so the "fair" distribution is completely upset.
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2 comments:
This is correct. NObama or any other president has the right to punish those who work the hardest, give up the sacrifice of time,sweat, tears and sometimes family, in order to get ahead. It is their money and property. Anyone in our country has the same opportunity. The laws are tainted towards the minority to give them even greater opportunity, if they apply themselves. This is not 1860 or even 1960. If people want the American dream, they have to take advantage of the opportunities. But, president NObama has no right to take it away from those who have achieved it: no matter what color or religion, or anything else that they are! And, this is fair. And, my money shouldn't be given to lazy people who won't (I didn't say can't) work. Or, have one baby after another, and live off welfare. Enough is enough!
Yes to 152AM...I agree with you all the way. It seems like all NOBAma does is take from the hard working people and pass it out amongst all the lazy welfare with their independence cards. I just LOVE it when I am behind one of them in the grocery store....grrrrrr!
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