What’s fair?
I’ve had cause to ponder what’s fair recently in multiple contexts and have learned a few things in the process.
For many, what’s fair really means, if they don’t get the outcome they want, it isn’t fair. Or if the outcome or process doesn’t meet their criteria, then it isn’t fair.
It certainly helps when there are documented rules to measure the complaint against. However what do we do when there are no rules, or when both parties haven’t accepted or understood the “rules?” Or when the party who is expected to make the judgment, isn’t free to discuss the process used???
I recently looked up the Merriam-Webster definitions for both justice and fairness. I find it interesting that both were a bit circular in their definitions. Justice is being “just or fair,” fairness is being “fair.”
Two additional concepts maybe are helpful; being marked by impartiality and honesty and conforming with the “established rules.”
And so, while the situations I have seen haven’t necessarily resulted in happy outcomes for all, I have a new understanding of how challenging it is to be the one making judgment. I also have new appreciation of how muddy things become when people are seeking fairness, because it is easier to follow and interpret rules than it is attempt to manage the more universal issue of, “What should the rules be?”
So, justice appears to be much easier to attain than fairness. And perhaps understanding that many things in life aren’t fair helps us all find some peace with those times when we don’t get what we want and can accept justice instead for what it is in its imperfection.
