What do you think a "fair society" is?

What does "fair" mean for you when talking about how you think society should organize itself?

@fmf said
What does "fair" mean for you when talking about how you think society should organize itself?

A society where people can worship in peace without the fear of getting bombed sounds fair to me.

@fmf said
What does "fair" mean for you when talking about how you think society should organize itself?

I think that virtually impossible to answer in a single post and certainly not in a way which is acceptable to the majority here.

@divegeester said
I think that virtually impossible to answer in a single post and certainly not in a way which is acceptable to the majority here.

What arrangements or limitations or freedoms might not be "acceptable to the majority" and yet still be an element of what makes a society "fair"?

@fmf said
What arrangements or limitations or freedoms might not be "acceptable to the majority" and yet still be an element of what makes a society "fair"?

The political and democratic construct for example.

Did you want to limit or describe the context of a fair society in terms of this thread?

@divegeester said
The political and democratic construct for example.

Did you want to limit or describe the context of a fair society in terms of this thread?

Just looking for people's ideas and definitions regarding 'fairness' when it comes to how groups of people [which are large enough for all their members to know each other] organize themselves. Not looking for a fully fleshed out manifesto.

And the extent to which people believe their [or others'] spiritual or religious beliefs would or should affect the nuts and bolts of it would be interesting.

@fmf said
What does "fair" mean for you when talking about how you think society should organize itself?

There is no such thing as a “fair” society - even the most loving family cannot be totally fair.

Fairness would mean everybody has the same amount of everything - money, looks, brains. Totally impossible.

A society must be JUST, not fair. Equal treatment under the law.

Somebody once said “What is worse than the unequal treatment of equals, is the equal treatment of unequals.”

@caljust said
Fairness would mean everybody has the same amount of everything - money, looks, brains.

Money.

That would not be my definition of fair.
I'm curious why you would suggest that?

It is fair that a man who works harder than me has more money.
It is fair that a man who has a disability has more money than me.

Looks and brains are not within the gift of society.

@caljust said
Fairness would mean everybody has the same amount of everything - money, looks, brains. Totally impossible.

A society must be JUST, not fair. Equal treatment under the law.

"Fair" can be defined as "equal" and it can be defined as "just" too. And, clearly, they are not the same.

So I think you are still talking about a "fair" society when you lean towards the "justice" meaning and away from the "equality" meaning.

So perhaps in a "just" society everyone has access to, or receives, what they deserve [in return for what they give or do], for example, hard work means more wealth, better lifestyle means better health ~ and this exists alongside the "equal" treatment under the law that you mention.

That leaves the determination of what the substance of that law is.

@wolfgang59 said
Money.

That would not be my definition of fair.
I'm curious why you would suggest that?

I suppose I am talking about theoretical clean slates - what we get to start out with, and not necessarily what society provides.

Of course, money later in life depends how the individual has managed his/her money, and how much they started out with.

The person that comes into the world with a huge inheritance as opposed to the one who inherits their parents’ debt, are not on equal terms, and that is not “fair” (on a cosmic scale, rather than a society scale).

I just wanted to throw this spanner in the works to say life (in general) is not fair. We all get dealt different hands, and we must do the best we can.

A “fair” society should merely enable each member to do the best they can with what they have. (Money, looks, brains)

@FMF

Further to the subject of money and fairness, I recall a story my mother told me about the hyperinflation in Germany between the World Wars.

Money lost its value basically overnight. I still have stamps overprinted with amounts like 500,000 Marks.

In 1923 the US dollar was worth 4,210,500,000,000 German Marks (Wikipedia)

As a part of financial reform, the German government abolished the DM and introduced the Renten Mark. Every adult was issued with 200 RM. So there was one day in Germany when everybody had exactly the same amount of money.

Needless to say, on the very next day, some had 210 and others had 190 RM. And so it goes.

@fmf said
What does "fair" mean for you when talking about how you think society should organize itself?

A fair society is like a colony of ants. Everyone has function and they do it.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8 KJV)

It is not possible for any human society to be any fairer than it is now. Maybe a little adjustment here and there.

@FMF

As they explore this question of yours where should they look for the element of joy in your underlying opinion here?

@sonship said
@FMF
As they explore this question of yours where should they look for the element of joy in your underlying opinion here?

People can make what they want of my "underlying opinion".

What do you think "fair" means, in practical terms, when talking about how society should organize itself?