I was just browsing in a procrastinatory way through some of the blogs I follow, and I found this:
First, it’s important that you see this picture as I did. What I see is a fence with a long horizontal brown strip across the top of it. That strip is part of the fence – okay? Fine. Thank you.
In scenario A, each kid has the same box but only one can see over the fence. (Unfair!) In scenario B, the boxes have been distributed such that each kid is equally unable to see over the fence. (Remember, brown horizontal strip = top part of the fence!) (Fair! {big smiley face})
Are you kidding me?
How about we posit some different scenarios. In these, the tall kid keeps his box and continues watching the game.
Scenario C: The littlest kid gets off his box, and the middle-sized kid takes it. Maybe Little Guy is bored with staring at the fence and wants to do something more suited to his level of ability and development. Or maybe the middle-sized kid kicks him off it. We can even imagine a scenario in which the the tall kid kicks the little kid off the box and gives it to the middle-sized kid. However it works out, you then have two kids watching the game, and the third one doing something else.
In scenario C, the little kid could run screaming for mommy, because “It’s NOT FAIR!” Or he could wander off and play with the puppy. (Yes, there’s a puppy. It’s off having fun and doesn’t care less about watching a game when it can chase/lick its own balls.) Either way, it’s important to remember that all the little kid has to do is wait a bit and, guess what, He Will Get BIGGER. Yes! In approximately the same amount of time that it took the biggest kid to grow tall enough to see over the fence while standing on only one box, the littlest kid will also become able to do exactly the same thing. All he has to do is continue to grow!
And then there’s scenario D, which is my personal favorite. In that scenario, the two bigger kids persuade the littlest one to give up his box. They then help the littlest kid get up onto the biggest kid’s shoulders, after which the middle-sized kid stands on two boxes. After a while, they all go inside for some ice cream, and then they play with the puppy.
Looking at this a different way … If conditions had been “fair” in the primordial sludge, do you think anything would have bothered to crawl out of it?
What do you think about politically correct memes about fairness and justice? Do you think there might me more than two options to choose from?
American Soustannie 
Personally, I think the tall kid should be heavily taxed, then he wouldn’t be able to attend the game, which would allow more opportunity for the poor, downtrodden small kid. That’s what Hope & Change is all about and why we elected President Obama ! !
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Okay … thanks for commenting. So please tell me, WHY do you think the tall kid, who has put in his time growing and getting tall, shouldn’t be allowed to attend the game? How does anyone benefit when we make short people out of tall people by cutting their legs off at the knees?
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The brown stripe isn’t the fence, it’s part of the playing field.
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Yes, I know. But when I first looked at it, I saw it the way I described it, and doing so gave rise to some thoughts. That’s why I asked readers to look at it the way I had, for the purpose of discussing those thoughts. The bottom line, though, in my opinion, is that the modern discussion about equality, justice and fairness is grossly oversimplified and largely irrelevant.
Thanks for stopping by and for commenting…:)
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