The Unchosen One

Why do American’s believe that every aspect of life should be fair?  Not only do American’s believe that everything should be fair, everything should also be equal.  Will America not continue to be the greatest nation in the world if everything is not fair?  I guess that depends on what your idea of fair is. 

I believe that America achieved its greatness because of fairness.  Fairness use to be when Americans began their lives, they were not controlled by classes or sects that decided what sort of lifestyles they would be limited to, rather the only limitation was an individual’s ability to achieve.  Everybody began life on an even playing field and success was not limited to a select group of individuals.  Now fairness is measured by receiving the same rewards as the next person.  Rewards are supposed to be extra incentives to perform well, but many see rewards as an entitlement now.  Today’s rewards are nice cars, clothes, and homes.  Many believe they are entitled to these rewards even though they have not achieved the same level of success as others.  They believe that if they haven’t achieved the same level of success then things are not fair.

The meaning of fairness has changed over time, and I believe has become synonymous with equality.  Americans have this sense that if all things are not equal then it is not fair.  Many fail to see the tragedy that has plagued all nations that have tried to achieve equality for all its citizens.  Nations that have strived for equality have all failed because of self interest.  When an individual feels they are putting in more effort than another, their self interest kicks in, and they believe they deserve more than the other individual.  If the first individual works their hardest but achieves the same results, it creates turmoil that causes the first individual to not perform to their best ability.  They know that no matter how hard they try they will not achieve greater success, nor will they be penalized for their failure. 

That is the direction that America is moving towards.  Many people feel entitled to the rewards of success, while the successful are not receiving the rewards they worked hard for.  President Obama legitimized this feeling to many Americans during his campaign last year.  Whenever he was asked about raising taxes on the wealthy to give back to the poor, he said it wasn’t socialism, it was fair.  This legitimized the feelings that many Americans were having, and I believe it is a direction we need to move away from.  

We need to move back in the direction of The American Dream.  The American Dream for those of you unfamiliar with this term is “The dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”.  Do as well as you possibly can individually, and don’t rely on the support of others.  If everybody were to follow that mentality, more people would be successful, feel successful and receive their fair share of rewards.  My idea of fairness is you get what you work for, not what somebody else works for.  If you draw the short straw, you draw the short straw.  Life wasn’t meant to be equal, and life isn’t always fair.  

Annoy A Liberal: Work hard, succeed, be happy.