unfairness happens

one of the great mysteries of human psychology is my desire to be superior and the world to be fair at the same time.

i want the world to be fair so everyone has the same starting point. i want to be better than everyone so i am better, because of me, not because of my circumstances. that makes me feel nice.

and of course unfairness happens. to me, to you, to him, to her, to it, to us, to them.

over the long run, does karma do its thing, and do things equalize and simply become fair?

or, i simply come to accept the status quo as reasonably fair, since it's the way the world works? and justify i am where i am because i'm quicker, smarter, braver, a generally better human being?

or, i'm actually trying to do something about the way things are?

perpetuating unfairness

it might be too much to ask for us to actively make the world a fairer place. (fairer, for this instance, let's just say is a case where less people starve and in return some don't get to eat thousand dollar caviar while laying waste to the ecosystem. i hope we might be able to agree on that much)

but are we indirectly perpetuating unfairness?

when we buy luxury goods - is that providing employment or opportunities, or supporting the corporate infrastructure to continue their exploitation?

if i don't know where my coffee comes from - is that helping to keep the exporters strong, so they continue to take advantage of the struggling growers?

if i eat factory farmed food or mass-trawled fish (both cheaper options) - is that destroying the livelihoods of the traditional farmers and fishermen, now with most of the profits going to the industrialized food companies?

perhaps the question isn't even actively trying to make the world fairer - the issue is more of not making things worse.

getting what i am owed

that client owes me for all the time i spent helping his business.

that company owes me money, and i even have it in black and white.

that guy owes me a favor for that one time i went out of the way to help him.

that friend owes me big time, for that huge cover-up.

well...

i owe a lot of different people for getting me through tough times.

i owe a lot of colleagues for opportunities, both given and taken away.

i owe a lot of strangers for their writings, videos, pictures, all for free on the web, that have entertained, educated, and inspired me.

or...

the world is out to get me anyway, and i don't owe the world a damn thing.

maybe it can be something other than what might be actually true and fair.

maybe it can be about which viewpoint to take that would feel most right, or, the least worst.