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The Concept Of Fairness

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Afresh, Sep 13, 2019.

  1. Afresh

    Afresh Gold IL'ite

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    I am really agitated these days. So this is really a diversion ;)

    This irritation building up, and instead of being completely resentful, I decided it might be better to let off a snippet to clear my head.

    A few days back I read a beautiful piece on why the world was, maybe, never meant to be a fair place. Then, why do we always teach our kids to be fair, the concept of justice and fairness?

    So, like all things morally valued, we try to imbibe from all ancient and modern fairy tales is a free and fair society, where everyone is happy and well-nourished mentally and physically. This is where we also derive the concepts of fairness and happy society with healthy inter linkages or relations. This kind of steady state is almost impossible to achieve in any yug, except for the famed satyuga , which none of us ever present on this earth have ever witnessed.

    The question, is why do we then subscribe to all these ideal world concepts? Maybe this ideal world is like a mirage, which just keeps appearing and disappearing with us never getting hold of it, but with a promise of an oasis at the end of the journey. Maybe that’s an ideal world state that is theorised to keep things in check and balance.

    Even with our Darwinian concepts like survival of the fittest, it was very clear that nature never intended for any kind of fairness for us to assuage from its gallery of ideas, visuals and other platforms. Then aren’t we doing a disservice to our future generations to perpetuate these concepts of fairness, to only build up their expectations which would then convert to disappointments. These intangible concepts, attributed to an ideal world, are the only ones that lead to real pain hurt and associated maladies. Why wouldn’t/ couldn’t be the world be a little simpler to let us know that there never is a fair world, an ideal world.

    All the natural flora, fauna, even geographical landscapes are diverse and at an overview level only convey that they were never meant to be equal or comparable. We are just what we are. If that’s what the world screams itself, why do we humans need to develop flawed or o.w. notions of equality and fairness.

    Or is the ideal world that shining light which draws us to its shining magnificence, like a moth to its death or a higher world, which maybe, the afterlife??
    Do we think we might be better equipped to deal with our disappointments, if we never had a word called fairness in our dictionary or lexicon?
     
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  2. Balajee

    Balajee IL Hall of Fame

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    The paradox is while the world is far from ideal if we don't subscribe toi ideal world concepts there will be total anarchy. Of course the world is a shark tank in many respects but even here a modicum of rules have to be followed to prevent total descent into chaos. So let us pretend it is a fair world while keeping a keen eye on unfairness and deceit.
     
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  3. Afresh

    Afresh Gold IL'ite

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    Completely in consonance with the words above.
    Yet, my mind wanders to think of consequences when in a hypothetical world ... we don't/ didn't have any notions of equality or its siblings.
    maybe then , all of us could lead peaceful lives with nothing to bind us all together, because as a society one wouldn't have a common goal or thread to help us believe in a common vision or objective.
    for instance colonization, this happened because a certain community at a point of time felt its need to assert its own superiority over the other races/countries etc. ( i will concede , i think it may not be naturally destined, as even herds of animals move around together and bond on commonality)
    However, If they themselves wouldn't have identified with their own types to unite and influence/control the world, Couldn't we have been a more peaceful world? This is just a thought sir, to incite some interest in the possible alternatives, if we challenge our long held beliefs ;)
     
  4. Afresh

    Afresh Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you @Balajee Sir at the first response:grinning: :)
     
  5. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    I am reading that the world is unfair, a shark tank, and so on. Heard about flight delays because of a lot of cancellations at Heathrow (London) where anti-Global Warming demonstrators are disrupting operations.

    While all that is going on in the world, I am quite happy that we'd be around for only a few more years, and then go extinct. When this is the case, the worry "aren’t we doing a disservice to our future generations to perpetuate these concepts of fairness, to only build up their expectations which would then convert to disappointments?" could be moot.

    Let us teach them survival skills. Personally I am interested in adding to their learnings about what is fair in love (we are all anti-war in the family) so that they'd get on with the job (duty?) of making some grandkids.

    In the meantime, the thread title reminded me of Shah Rukh Khan, and his endorsement of fairness. When the world is too darn hot, and we're all fighting natural calamities, water shortages, and temperatures that are too hot, everybody is bound to get dark -- literally and otherwise... This (human life) is a short term gig, and we must do as best as we can with whatever we've got.

     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2019
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  6. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    What is fair to one person is unfair to another. Even scriptures discuss Dharma (righteousness) at a very high level leaving the people to experience and learn about righteousness. The scriptures never orders what is the right way to lead life but they are only guidance or suggestions.

    The reason for the world to appear unfair is our own mind. Every person has a set of expectations from the world and when he or she doesn't get it, consider the world as unfair. At a very high level, people ask if there is God, why so many are rich and comfortable while others are poor and don't have three meals a day. At day to day to level, we measure the fairness of the people around us without making an attempt of fairness that exist within us. The condition of the world is nothing but collection of thoughts of the beings living in this world as the free will of the people takes them wherever they want to go with their expectations. The human life is gifted for its own redemption and not for fixing the world. We have nothing to bench mark the fairness of the world but a collection of principles each person has.

    If everyone attempts to reduce their own expectations and practice giving kindness to the fellow beings, the world will be a better place. Fairness will become visible only when one cleans up inner dirt and see life through consciousness. If everyone focus their attention to cleansing themselves and transform, the Yuga that we live will become Sathya Yuga.
     
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  7. nemesis

    nemesis Platinum IL'ite

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    An analogy would be driving in Indian roads.

    There are rules in theory and none of them seem to obey it; the moment you make an accident, then all those who never followed the rules will gang up and give sermons about driving safe/obeying the law.
     
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  8. rgz

    rgz Gold IL'ite

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    If you want to do the right thing because there is a reward/conditional (aka “others around also are fair” )you expect for it, then don’t bother doing it.
    You do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, unconditional. (whether or not you believe in karma/after-life).
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2019
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  9. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Where luck is involved, fairness might be absent or unevenly present. But, in other matters, I have mostly found people and sources of authority to be fair and just. The key word is mostly. And if fairness or justice is delayed or denied, there often are ways to protest against that.

    Why we teach our kids to be fair and the concept of justice and fairness: imagine a world where children grew up without that. And like it says in the last lines of one of my favorite poems: With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

    Also, it just feels nice to be fair or witness and recognize justice. Kind of like how we feel good after having contributed to a source like Wikipedia.

    On a lighter note - out of the 25-30 teachers my kids have had I remember one often. She had a system by which the students were assigned numbers in the reverse alphabetical order. She said it was to be fair to the ones whose last names started with letters closer to Z... as most teachers go in ABC alphabetical order only.
     
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  10. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Interesting! In my opinion, being fair starts from being fair to oneself. Charity has to begin at home. It is needed for self preservation. Our personal existence depends on being fair to self and others. Aap bhala to jag bhala (if one is good, the whole world is good).
    Yes, it is difficult and not always practical. But then, life was never easy.
     
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