Been thinking lately about the state of our political discourse and I think it comes down to a simple clash of values.  In one corner is freedom, the idea that the individual should be free to choose his or her actions as long as it does no harm to others.  In the other corner is fairness, the notion that outcomes should have a certain distribution that is equitable to all people participating.  In today's world, fairness is winning and that ought to frighten all of us.

Why do I say fairness is winning?  The tax debate is the first plank.  Hats off to Robert Reich and a few other "progressives" for giving voice to what most actually feel.  Many conservatives continue to argue that because the "rich" however you define it have paid more of the overall tax burden over time, they should not have to pay even more.  It's a pretty convincing argument, if you accept that the goal of taxation is to pay for the government.  However, many progressives, including Reich, don't accept that goal.  Rather, they argue that the goal of taxation is to redistribute wealth.  The issue with the wealthy is not that they don't pay too much in taxes but rather that they have too much wealth and the outcome produced by the market is not fair.  Even though it is the result of free association, it is not fair so it needs to be changed.

The second argument often deployed by those in favor of fairness is that ordinary people don't have the ability to make good decisions and therefore need to be saved from themselves.  Why are seatbelts mandatory?  Why are airbags?  Why does my shower have to have a low flow device inserted into it (unless of course I removed it)?  These are all examples of someone making a decision about what the "right" or "fair" decision is and enforcing it on me in the name of them knowing better or of fairness.  All of this is an erosion of our freedoms.

One very substantial problem with fairness of course is that it is impossible to define.  Try asking a "progressive" what amount of the total tax burden should be borne by the top 10% of wage earners.  Few will answer specifically and even fewer have anything that purports to be an argument as to why that specific number is correct.  Lots of philosophers, maybe the most famous of whom was John Rawls have tried to develop approaches to determine fair outcomes.  Most make interesting reading but are completely impossible to do except as thought experiments. 

Despite this, fairness is increasingly running our lives.  Every kid gets a soccer trophy because it would be a shame to make a kid who participated feel badly about his participation.  Both of my kids play sports.  When they play well, I tell them.  When the mess up, I tell them that too.  I don't congratulate them for trying.  The world does not award A's for effort.  A's are for achievement and our society of fairness simply does not recognize this.

Make no mistake, the trial of our lives is about the fight between fairness and freedom.  Freedom has slept quietly for a long time.  It needs a wakeup call.