My parents have always said I have an over-developed sense of justice. My mother would often knock down this notion with the statement, "Life is not fair". And yet, deep down in my bones I want it to be. To me, the statement "all men are created equal", is a basic conception of fairness. And this is my basic issue with the conservative mentality. In Slate's "A Supreme Court Conversation – 10" Dahlia Lithwick searches for this concept in describing the Supreme Court
But is there a name for this thing we liberals want to see more of on the court? Something that isn't merely the opposite of "mean"?
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There is a name for this thing: it is fairness and it is the basic premise of the Declaration of Independence. God damn it, it is the basic reason why we had a Revolution; "taxation without representation" is basically unfair. It is why we had a civil war, there are many horrors to slavery, but at the end of the day it just is simply not fair.
It is why a progressive can have doubts about affirmative action; yes, African-Americans and women have gotten a raw deal in America historical, but is affirmative action really fair going forward. Or school choice, isn't fair that students get to choose what school they go to? But it is why, we agree that the VP cannot be unaccountable; everyone else is, why should he not be.
It is why lying about going to war and messing with the voter system is so infuriating. It is why the revolving door of taking jobs in industry after being part of the administration is revolting. Yes, there are real world consequences of these actions such as our soldiers dieing and our political system being corrupted. But beyond this there is a basic notion of fairness that is transgressed for many of us that seems to obviate the "American" experiment.
The fact that Dahlia can not even name this concept saddens me.