J.B. Shurk writes for the American Thinker about factors that counteract our natural inclination toward fairness.
Some social psychologists believe that humans are biologically wired to seek “fair” relationships with others. Some theologians believe that the soul’s capacity for distinguishing right from wrong leads a moral person toward the same result. Whether genetically or spiritually inclined to prefer fair outcomes, we humans are not comfortable around those who cheat and prosper from duplicity. Cheating is ugly and therefore despised.
Systemic cheating, however, now dominates Western life. Elevating “diversity for diversity’s sake” over all other metrics for gauging achievement has reduced merit and hard work to second-class virtues. Rewarding illegal aliens with amnesty has cheapened the sacrifices of those lawful immigrants who have struggled to integrate into their new home countries. Allowing delusional men to dominate women’s sports has cheated female athletes of a fair playing field for pursuing excellence. In ways big and small, “woke” governments, corporations, and academic institutions cheat Western citizens of the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their own labors.
Of course, systemic cheating is disguised in language that sounds noble. “Woke” Marxists use “fairness” jiujitsu to force disingenuous and unprincipled change.
Unfairly promoting a less talented person over a more talented person because of his respective skin colors is celebrated as a victory for “diversity” — a reminder that in the twenty-first century, racists are still obsessed with how a person looks at the expense of what thoughts occupy his mind. Without any public debates or votes, governments have replaced “equal treatment under the law” with “equitable” redistribution — or, in layman’s terms, “special treatment under the law” — so that certain classes of people can benefit at the expense of others.
In an amazing instance of Orwellian “doublespeak,” the State categorizes those classes that are unfairly rewarded as “underprivileged” and the people against whom it discriminates as “privileged.” Never in human history have people with “privilege” felt so marginalized.
