It’s not fair! It’s a matter of fairness, and this is not fair!
I’ve decided to consider advocating for this fairness concept — this idea that everyone deserves a fair shot — equal shot — maybe even the exact, same shot… that we should all have the same opportunity — regardless of…
… ability… gifting… weaknesses… strengths… effort… blessing…
This just isn’t fair! We deserve to be the same! “Equals should be treated equally!”
Call it fairness. Call it justice. Maybe it’s social justice, some would argue.
We live on the same planet. It’s not fair that some have so much — and others — yes, us — have so little… too little, I might add. How can that be justified? How can some stand so smugly by? … even cheering? Cheering, I said!
That’s ridiculous!
Still even when the inequality is so stinkin’ obvious, the wealthy among us actually have the audacity to stand and cheer — almost as if they are unaware that the rest of us are also in the stands. It’s as if they don’t even care — like we’re not even in the game. They don’t care about the active discrimination. They don’t care how little we have. They must have no heart. It’s all about them! It’s simply not fair!
Monday night the University of Alabama football team won their 15th NCAA national championship. The (semi-) Fighting Irish (based on their performance Monday night) claim 11 of their own championships — same as Michigan’s Wolverines and those tempestuous Trojans of Southern California. But alas, my woeful, beloved Boilermakers — those prudent young men from Purdue — have won a grand total of zero.
Zero.
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
And here’s the kicker…
Because the Crimson Tide, Irish, Trojans, etc. historically fare so well, the best and brightest from the high school ranks prefer them over my precious Purdue. Year after year, the best only get better; and the rest of us? Well, woe is us.
It’s not fair.
So should we change the college football system? Should we regulate it? Should we limit the number of wins or good recruits allowed by Alabama football, UConn women’s basketball, or the talented men from Duke?
Or should we fight harder, recognizing that goal setting and hard work and even adversity are all worth something? Should we actually wrestle with the wisdom embedded within the recognition that we weren’t all created with the same ability, gifting, weaknesses, strengths, work ethic, and blessing? …
Or do we instead focus on life not being fair?
Dare I add: I can’t wait for the day — that incredible day — one day, someday, whenever it happens — when my Boilermakers win the national football championship — and convincingly smash that Alabama Crimson Tide.
Respectfully,
AR
Hmmm. Well, by virtue of their glorious history on the gridiron, Alabama is fortunate enough to have an alumni base who provides their program with ample amounts of financial support. Also, because of their winning ways, they receive the bigger cut of television and radio contracts. Hence, they are flush with cash. They can afford the best coaches and support staff. Their facilities are top notch, they have more than enough families to “adopt’ their players on campus. Make sure they are well taken care of and that they want for little. So of course it attracts the best and brightest-they have the most to offer. A school like Purdue, will likely never compete for those players. And those players who do go to Purdue will never know how good they could have been had they had the recourses provided to them by a school like Alabama. And while this is a shame, it is just football, just a game. But take this same analogy and put it towards public schools and that really is a tragedy. Who’s to say how far the children of under-funded schools could take us if they had an equal playing field? If they had access to the best teachers, technology, and expectations as those who went to suburban well funded schools. Who knows how many brilliant minds have stayed untapped, and how many problems our society could have solved if only our education system was more equal, more fair. How often have we gotten in our own way, by allowing those kids to remain in an underfunded school? Sorry, AR, I just can’t agree with you on this one.