the one about fairness

this article was written last year when this was still a ghost blog

when lazing in bed late at night, alone and without easy available thing to do (wala talaga! ano ba?), I sometimes turn my teeny weeny brain to mulling over the nature of reality. of late, it’s been occurring to me that people occasionally take egocentricity to rather frightening levels.

now, to those of you who have been lucky(?) enough to know me well are aware, I don’t actually have problem with ego (i don’t argue and push my opinion so hard since I know I’ll end up being right, so i’ll just shut up most of the time). my problemo, rather, is the blissful unawareness of one’s selfishness that seems to be a constant feature of the human condition.

(insert your boos here)

there are plenty of particular cases of apparently ignorant self-centredness that one could list. from political ideology to personal morality, self-interest rules baby!

i always wanna laugh when folks i know launch into diatribes on the nature of society. apparently it is the role of government to implement the well-known “me first” policy. this is not an unreasonable point of view; it would just be nice if people admitted it.

i might be a shade biased….

The universality of “me” as a political philosophy is a remarkable thing, but it is personal ethics where narcissism really runs wild. the ease with which one can let go of moral principles that have been several years in the acquiring is fascinating.

cheating is wrong. unless you won’t get caught…. (a lot of pinoys are like this)

always tell the truth. except if lying gets you some…..(gma?? isdatchu?)

never betray a confidence. save for those circumstances where there’s money in it.

it’s not about hypocrisy. the problem is not that people have double standards; it’s that they don’t acknowledge it. fury at the flaws of others while there’s indignation at accusations flung at oneself.

which brings me to today’s sermon. i’ve been spending the last few days kicking doors and head-butting walls in general annoyance at the unfairness of life. however, it occurred to me yesterday evening, as I rubbed my stubbed toes and massaged my bruised forehead, that perhaps this is a little ridiculous.

the “life isn’t fair” is an article of faith for parents, teachers and other potential sources of abuse everywhere. unfortunately, it isn’t…. true. life is perfectly fair. people just don’t understand fair.

“fair” is unbiased….. neutral….. without prejudice.

and this is not the same as “designed for my benefit”.

look at yourself first and look at what you did…

it’s easy to throw a tantrum because the bastards at malacanang don’t do their job properly. or because your landlord evicts you. or because you lose your cell phone. or because you’re not quite the player you thought you were.

however, while throwing the toys out of crib may be emotionally enjoyable, it’s a fairly futile exercise. and a little silly.

there is not much of a line between believing in the unfairness of existence and believing in destiny. the fact the life doesn’t follow a path laid done by either aliens or by gods should not be taken as evidence of a conspiracy to keep you miserable.

furthermore, not only would holding that particular viewpoint be foolish, it also really wouldn’t be fair.

incidentally, none of the above should be taken as an indication that i’ll stop complaining about everything, that’s my past time. or of an idea that perhaps god doesn’t hate me. he does. jk!