What’s the right thing to do? (Episode 08: Part One: “What’s a Fair Start?” & Part Two: “What Do We Deserve?”), Justice, Harvard University, Michael Sandel

PART ONE: “WHAT’S A FAIR START?”

Is it just to tax the rich in order to help the poor?

John Rawls argues that to answer this question, one should ask about the principles that were chosen in order to govern the distribution of income and wealth in case he didn’t know certain things such as: his identity, how he grew up (in privilege or in poverty?).

Wouldn’t you want an equal distribution of wealth, or one that maximally benefits whomever happens to be the least advantaged?

After all, that might be you. Rawls argues that the distributive system that rewards effort -called meritocracy- doesn’t give you many chances because the naturally gifted will always get ahead of you. Furthermore, says Rawls, the success of the naturally gifted depends on arbitrary factors -as arbitrary as the birth order- so they can’t claim much credit. Professor Sandel then asks the first-born students to raise their hands…

PART TWO: “WHAT DO WE DESERVE?”

In a recap, Professor Sandel analyses how income, wealth, and opportunities in life should be distributed, according to the three different theories (libertarianism, the meritocratic system, and John Rawls’s egalitarian theory) that have been discussed in class so far. A discussion on the fairness of pay differentials in modern society follows by comparing the salary of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor ($200,000) with the salary that television’s Judge Judy receives ($25 million).

Sandel asks, is this fair?

John Rawls, would have said it is not. According to Rawls an individual’s personal success often depends on morally arbitrary facts—luck, genes, and family circumstances—for which he or she can claim no credit. Those who were less fortunate not to be born with the “talents” that a particular society provides, aren’t less worthy so the inequalities can be dealt with by the naturally advantaged, sharing their wealth with the less fortunate.