Plausiblecoexistenceoffairness

　　WithinthechapterofAgainstFairness，Mr。Asmaexplainedthatpreferringsomethingorsomeonetoanotherisamoreinstinctualandmorehumanthingtodo。ButthiscomesinconflictwiththeutilitarianideaofTodoasonewouldbedoneby，andtoloveone’sneighborasoneselfandtheegalitarianideaofallhumansshouldbetreatedasequals。Thelattertwohavealreadybecomegoldenprinciplesonwhichoursocietyisfoundedon，butI’mwillingtochallengethem。
　　Equaloutcomeisneitherdesirednorpossible。Noonewantsthesmallerpieceofcakebutthatdoesn’tmeanthey’dvoteforequaloutcome。SayifIAlikesB’swife，accordingtotheequaloutcomeprinciple，Ashouldbeabletosleepwithher。BecauseBcould，right？Thenwhycouldn’tA，iftheyaresoequal。Anotherexample，Johndoewantstobeapilotbuthe’sblind，doeshegettobeapilotsincehe’ssupposedtogetequaltreatmentsaseveryoneelse？Nowwecanseetheridiculousnessinequaloutcomeprinciple。Besides，ifeveryoneget’sthesamethingsnomatterwhattheydo，theywouldjuststoptrying。LikethepeoplecommuneChinatriedoutafewdecadesback，peoplehadnomotivationstoworkhardsincetheyallatefromthesamebowlandatethesamestuff。
　　Whatfairnessreallymeansisequalopportunity。It’srelievingtoknowthatoureffortswillpayoffandweareresponsibleforourresults。AhadthesameopportunityofnailingB’swifebackinthedayswhenshedidn’tgetmarriedbutAfailedduetohisownproblems，nowAhasnoonetoblame。WellwhatifBwasbornmuchmoregorgeousthanA？I’dstillsaytheyhadequalopportunitybecausewhenGodrolledthediceitwasrandom，AandBhadtheequalopportunityofbeinggorgeous。YoumightarguethatBhadbetterlookingparentsthereforepassedontoBbettergenesbutdatingbacktotheemergenceoflivecreatures，bothAandBcamefromasinglecellarchaea。Geneticmutationsarerandom，inthissense，AandBstillgotequalopportunitesinnailingthegirl。Mostlywhenwetalkaboutsocialjustice，wearereferringtoequalopportunity。
　　Socialjusticeandfavoritismcanactuallycoexist。Infact，theyalreadydointhemodernsociety。Favoritismisn’itispreferencewithinareasonablerange。Amancanlovehissonallhelikesandnotlovesomestrangerchild，becauseheistheownerofhislove，hehastherighttodisposeitfreely。Takingthisrightawayfromthemaninthenameoffairnessisanunfairactionitself。It’safundamentalrighttoactaccordingtoourwill。Amancangivehissonallthelovehehasbecausethatloveishis。Buthecannotstrangleothers，takethelifeofothersbecausehedoesn’tpossesstheirlives，they’renothistotake。Ownershipistheboundarybetweenfavoritismandabuseofpower。Privatepropertycanbepasseddowntothenextgenerationandwon’tbejudgedasbeingunfair，butit’sillegalforagovernmentofficialtoappointhisrelativeswithoutproperprocedures。
　　Tworelatedphrasesareoftenusedinchinatodescribethedifference，renqingweiandzouguanxi。Ifyouhelpoutaclosefriendorrelative，youcanbereferedassomeonewithrenqingwei。Ifyougothroughanillegal（unjustifiable）processtoobtainsomethingusingyourrelations，it’scalledzouguanxi。Theformerisfavoritismandthelatterhasmoretodowithabuseofpower。
　　Favoritismandequalityaren’talwaysinconflict。Itdependsonwhichkindofequalitywe’relookingat。