During the Vietnam war, the draft became a lottery system. As I consider the possiblity that a military draft may once again be needed, I think about a story describing another lottery.
Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery ends with this line: ""It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."
There are two ways one can respond to this line. One way is to declare that something cannot be fair unless it is right. The other is to recognize that there is a difference between what is fair and what is right, and that "fairness" can sometimes be used to undermine that which is right. In Jackson's story, the process that is used to select a victim for stoning is perceived to be fair. This makes it more difficult for those who participate in the stoning to recognize that it is wrong.
During the Vietnam war, opposition to the war became fused with opposition to the draft. Opposition to the draft was driven in part by the perceived unfairness of the system. Those with wealth and connections could serve in comfort and safety, or avoid serving altogether. The introduction of the draft lottery created a system that was perceived to be more fair. At the same time, it eliminated the broad sharing of perceived risk. One motivation for creating an all volunteer force was to make service fair by making it voluntary.
Americans care a great deal about fairness, and they see fairness more as a matter of process than of outcome. There is good reason for this, as outcome is typically more subject to manipulation than process. The American focus on fairness is not a foolish focus. The success of civil society requires the fusing of what is fair and what is right. The value Americans place on fairness can be seen in their attitude towards taxes. Many Americans support tax policies that run counter to their economic self-interest because they perceive those tax policies to be fair. I have argued elsewhere that the case for progressive taxes should be made based on fairness rather than on "compassion."
To return to matters of war, which are what have motivated me to write this diary, we see the concept of fairness influencing perceptions in many ways. The death of innocent civilians is seen as unfortunate but not as unfair because the victims are random. Thus the unfairness of war becomes seen as no greater than the unfairness of life itself.
The unfairness of life does not relieve us of the obligation to seek what is right. Indeed, that obligation lies at the source of everything that gives meaning and true joy to our lives. However, I believe this: To do good, we must be effective. In order to be effective, we must understand how the human psyche works. In order to be effective, we must be willing to work with people as they are and not as we would like them to be. So I ask those who would do good to think about what shapes perceptions of fairness, and how perceptions of what is fair influence perceptions of what is right. Consider that it's much easier to get people to consider whether something is right if they also have doubts about whether it is fair, and especially whether it is fair to them or someone they can imagine themselves to be.