Why is it, in this country, we can never do anything from a position of fairness. I have witnessed many issues in America over my lifetime, and, in my opinion, not many have been done out of fairness. Now, I do not possess a PHD in Psychology, but to me, it does not take a Rocket Scientist to figure out that if you are giving something or pandering to specific groups, other groups are going to respond with. Hey What About Me? Unless of course, it is a group that is truly entitled to special treatment. For example, Disabled Veterans, Children with Chronic Birth Defects, Disabled Americans, etc. Not groups based on their gender, race, sexual orientation, or if they are an illegal immigrant. This, in my opinion, contributes to division. Think about it for a minute. If your neighbor is getting a tax break on his or her property because of their religious beliefs, what would your reaction be? Probably the same as my reaction. Why is this specific group getting something that I am not ENTITLED too? We all have the same rights and they are enshrined in our Constitution. It seems to me that whenever something is done in our country for one group, it is always at the expense of another. I can come up with many examples but that is not what my blog posts are about. I do not want to create more division I am simply trying to get people to understand what causes resentment and division.
There is plenty of data or research available to confirm the classic human response to unfairness. “The standard human behavior under the influence of unfairness may send you into a rage or cause you to feel so frustrated you shut down.” This is a quote from an article in Psychology Today on How to Deal with Unfairness. And this article was from 2011. It must be much worse now in 2024 with a greater degree of unfairness in politics, immigration and how illegals are being treated, the weaponization of the courts and the justice system, etc. Another Journal I found that was actually written outside the United States, discusses the connection between Unfairness and Radicalization Unfairness and Radicalization. And it does not take much beyond our own common sense to see some of the radical behaviors of some in America, especially over the last few election cycles. The next study that I chose, in my opinion, is one of the reasons why we are so divided in this country. The study was done by The National Institute of Health a government agency National Library of Medicine nih.gov. The test results, according to the 2238 usable surveys (whatever that means) determined the following. “The highest unfairness values were observed for African American and multiracial respondents followed by Middle Eastern or North African participants”. Now, I don’t want to go into all the details of these studies, you can read them for yourselves. The Association of Unfairness with Mental and Physical Health. I am only trying to point out that there are reactions by individuals or groups to unfairness.
My own self observations give me a pretty good idea how other individuals or even an entire society deals with unfairness. Sure, we can ignore the unfairness around us, but for me and my small world of friends and family, we end up just storing the anger and resentment away and it gets worse the longer the issues of unfairness go unresolved. To make matters worse, there is always that great feeling of being powerless to stop the unfairness.
So, it seems strange to me, that the political class, the media industrial complex, some in the corporate world, and some individuals with an agenda don’t understand the reaction of the population when they create unfairness in the name of fairness. I personally do not believe it is about fairness at all. For the political class it is about swaying enough people to your side by whatever means necessary so you can maintain power and move the nation in a specific direction. For people in media, it may have been about fairness at one point, but now it seems like their only concern is to push their agendas no matter what the cost. I have never heard such divisive language. They have taken advantage of the special and significant right of a free press and abused it. Then there are the rich or the leaders of large corporations that drive the cultures of the companies the run. I guess they must forget that not all their stockholders agree with their ideologies when they get involved with societal or political issues. Finally, there are the individuals that are out pushing their own agendas not caring how their actions affect others. Sometimes, I just wish everyone would stay in their own lane.
So, where do go from here? We all know the old saying “Life is Unfair”. I guess with small acts of unfairness that we deal with everyday like being cut off on the roadways, or having someone cut in front you in a checkout line are easier to ignore and get over. It’s the big stuff that have been going on in our country for decades that are the deal breakers. The issues that are great for some but unfair to others that are instrumental at dividing us.
My Final Word.
Coexistence: People of different persuasions existing together at the same time and in a proximity close enough to affect each other, without causing harm to one another