Good is Fair AND Just

Adopt systems that are fair and just, not only fair or only just.

When I say a system is fair, I mean that two individuals with equal effort will be equally benefited by that system. If one individual puts in more effort, then the individual will gain more benefits than another from being in that system.

When I say a system is just, I mean that every individual has equivalent rights in regards to that system. Additionally, if there is a disparity of benefit given by the system, then that benefit will go to the least advantaged individual.

(I know these are not the dictionary meanings of fair and just. If it makes you angry to see me use these words incorrectly, replace the word fgdkl for fair and gflgfl for just in your mind.)

When people debate system changes in government, taxes, programming languages, etc they are trying to figure out what is best. I believe that a system can be judged by breaking it down into two fairness and justice. [That't not all, but all I'll illustrate here]

Fairness is about intrinsic and active properties of the individual before. If an individual does smarter, harder work that individual gains more benefit in a fair system.

Justice is about leveling the playing field. If an individual works equally hard or smart as another individual, they gain benefit proportional to the starting conditions: worse starting conditions equals MORE benefits than the individual with better starting conditions. No one likes a race where a person's starting point solely determines the winner (except maybe the winner).

So when determining a system change, the value should be interpreted as the lowest of the justice or fairness scale. If it is unjust, it is bad, no matter how fair it is. If it is unfair, it is bad, no matter how just it is. 99.99% of the time, only something both just and fair is good.

It IS possible to setup just and fair systems.

Some often debated examples:

Progressive taxes are often seen as unfair [especially to libertarians] because the rich get taxed at a higher rate than a poor person. A 50% tax on 200 dollars of income leaves you with 100 dollars. A 40% tax on 150 dollars of income leaves you with 90 dollars. As long as making more money means you keep making more money, progressive tax structures are both fair and just.

There are some bad welfare systems out there that are bad. When an individual makes more money, they lost benefits valued at more than the money gained.

[Note: Be careful when judging a system to use absolute numbers instead of percentages. Percentages are ratios, not real numbers.]

Almost all great games are just. Games where the early leader almost always achieves victory are quickly discarded. They aren't just-- you might as well just play one turn.

Also discarded are games that reward winning due to one single event over a constantly better performing opponent. Bad breaks in poker and bingos in Scrabble are examples of this. These are instances where systems aren't fair and the game is not as good for it.

There are other reasons systems can be bad or good, such as allowing for innovation and positive emergent behavior or driving people to work towards a goal rather than around restrictions, but these are the qualities I find people getting wrong most often.