Fairly Shared

The problem with the ability of people to do what they will, it often seems, is that they do things that someone else disagrees with. Especially when they're doing it with resources that someone feels are better used for other things.

I was reminded of this when I came across this article on Melinda French Gates, Laurene Powell Jobs, Anne Wojcicki and Mackenzie Scott; which has been trending recently on LinkedIn. I found the criticism of Elon Musk in the left-leaning article to be amusing: poor Americans in Red states have long been critical of NASA for being focused on space exploration, when that money was (obviously) better spent on themselves. Mr. Musk taking a chainsaw to government programs has been cheered by people who are certain that money that was once going to fight AIDS in Africa or to pay for news subscriptions will now be allowed to line their pockets in the form of lower taxes. Everyone, it seems, has a better use for the money that someone else is spending on things. I've learned to be quiet about my own hobbies when in certain company, lest I be reminded, yet again, of just what good the price of a set of Dungeons and Dragons rulebooks (let alone genuinely fancy dice) could do for this or that group of poor people somewhere.

I've heard ethics defined as "What we owe to each other," but in a society where people often feel straited while others have "more than they could ever use," that often tends to shade into what people feel that others owe to them. People tend to cast their gaze up the socioeconomic ladder, acutely aware of what they don't have. And I expect that the Trump Administration is going to bring a lot more awareness, as people's loss aversion sensitizes them to any program or benefit that may go away, and leave them holding the bag for the advantages that administration allies appear to gain.

The commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has always been dubious in the United States; the impulse to take from others to look after oneself has always been strong, and periods of prosperity broad enough to suppress it have been rare. In large part, I think, because resources don't care where they come from, or how they were obtained. Altering the distribution of resources tends to be an easier lift than procuring more resources, leaving people with room to complain that the current distribution is unsuitable for them.