Obama likes to use the word “fairness” because it is something that his focus groups say is desirable. Everybody wants fairness, but not everyone’s definition of it is the same.
It is an issue that has been argued about, literally, for millennia. Seven centuries before Christ, Aesop wrote the fable of The Grasshopper and The Ant, the former living the high life, dancing and singing, while the latter was working his little ant butt off, preparing and storing food for the winter. When the cold weather came, the grasshopper was starving to death, while the ant was well-fed. Is that fair? Liberals and conservatives will have differing points of view.
I now, humbly offer you the fable of the pizzerias, written by me, twenty centuries after Christ. Two new pizzerias have just opened, two blocks apart, with a busy office building between them. Giovanni’s parents were immigrants from Rome, and food has always been carefully and lovingly prepared. He saved his money and opened up his pizza palace, using only the finest ingredients, many of which are imported from Italy. He calculates that it will cost him $1.50 to make a slice of pizza, and he can earn a decent profit by selling it for two bucks.
Two blocks away, Guido, a fourth-generation Italian-American, has opened up his store. He’s looking to make a fast buck (literally) so he skimps on the ingredients and is able to produce a slice for a dollar, which he also plans on selling for two dollars.
On the day that both pizzerias opened, the workers in the office building flocked to them in equal numbers. Those who went to Giovanni’s got a real taste of Italy for their two bucks, and would never go anywhere else. Those who were unfortunate to sample Guido’s pies, which tasted like American cheese and ketchup on top of cardboard, would never make that mistake again. In just a few weeks, as word of mouth spread, Giovanni was selling 2,000 slices a day, making a profit of $1,000, which would generate an income of over $300,000 a year. Poor Guido was selling almost no slices a day, and closed up shop even before his one-year lease was up.
This is the type of American Dream story that takes place every day in every industry. Somebody works harder than somebody else, or is smarter, or risks more of his capital, or has a new idea or a brilliant innovation. Shouldn’t he be rewarded? And who should decide the extent of that reward—the marketplace or Obama and his hundreds of Czars? What would “fairness” dictate?
Good post TSSYF