Equal is Not True and True is Not Fair

Equal is not True and True is not Fair
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/09/23/225352.php

Truth precedes Fairness. And because of this uncomfortable reality, Americans confuse all sorts of things for the sake of political expedience. For example, the statement, “All [people] are created equal.” is certainly false. I am stronger than some people and some people are certainly stronger than I, so the strength of all people clearly is not equal. The supposed meaning of this statement is that all people have equal rights under the law, but this is also false. All our children have a right to an adequate education, but those in some schools are never really taught to write while those in other schools are. We all have a right to vote, but most drunkards, drug addicts and street people never actually do vote. So the abstract right is really quite different than the actual ability to accomplish the action that right protects. The point here is that equality in the abstract is no assurance of fair treatment. Which means just because we may be equal in the abstract, in truth some people get a vastly better deal in America than others, and some people, in truth, do not get as bad a deal as they pretend.

Truth as it turns out has nothing to do with fairness. And yet, all people tend to appeal to truth when what they really hope for is an abstract falsehood in the name of material fairness. Let me illustrate: When the poor steal from the rich it may be fair, but it is a falsehood to pretend it is not theft. When the weak demand more rights than the strong it is likely fair, but it is a falsehood to pretend more rights for the weak is equal rights for all. This problem becomes particularly acute when it comes to misrepresentation in the press. When the press exaggerates the sufferings of the poor and ignores the sufferings of the wealthy -- though this may be fair -- it is immoral in light of the duty of the press to represent the truth. Plato and Marx are wrong when it comes to manipulation of the media, even if it is done for sake of fairness. The truth is only the truth: what comes next is fairness. But fairness is impossible without a clear understanding of the truth. Oh, by the way, Kerry lost.

The Fundamental Fear of Fundamentalists

The Fundamental Fear of Fundamentalists

Nietzsche in the Gay Science tells us laughter always defeats the seriousness of sour tragedians. The serious professors of values so burdened and burdensome with the unbearable weightiness of their own leaden spirits—the Mullahs of righteousness encased in their sacrosanct academic orthodoxies—will always be surpassed by the joyous laughter of the courageous. Laugh always at the truth-sayers, for their seriousness is in the end the most inane of comedies, they themselves the greatest of unintentional buffoons. The fundamental fear of all fundamentalists, even those amongst us, is that we will laugh at them rather than fear them and their oh-so-serious rules, punishments and oh-so-dour compulsions. The essence of all fundamentalisms is fear, and fear cannot survive laughter. Those who most cherish their rules are the most fearful among us. They are the violently helpless, sharp-toothed mice, whose faith is no more than that their rules will save them, protect them from raucous life.

Yes, we will suffer. Yes, we will die. Yes, there are wicked people in this world who will hurt you if they can. Yes, some people do not fill out forms properly. Yes, some do not use the correct polite terms. Yes, some want to kill infidels. Some fart and belch loudly and leave yellow spots on the toilet seat. Laugh and you will live. The culture of life is a culture of laughter, and this is serious. The culture of death is a culture that confuses human order with the joyous mysteries of the world. When people plan, the gods laugh: this is the genius of the ancient Greeks. To conclude, if there was a Jesus, he certainly was no lover of rules. If Jesus was, he loved life fearlessly, and thus the inevitability of life’s raw most politically dubious humor. “Whose image is this and whose inscription? … Then repay to Caesar what is Caesar’s….” For what is Caesar’s is the coinage of fear. But what is God’s is Joy, Laughter, Acceptance, Life. And that remains the case even if God is dead.