Life is Unfair

 My daughter-in-law, the distinguished educator in New Orleans, has been a constant critic of Common Core and Charter Schools, among other multiple issues of concern. In response to some of her writing, I felt the need to share my inherent, heart-felt ache that life is unfair. 

That life is unfair may seem to epitomize the obvious! Yet, it is only in lessening the gap separating those who have been fortunate enough to have access to caring parents, good education, and economic stability and those not so fortunate that we can hope for more peaceful and productive society.  Babies are generally more alike than not. The occasionally genetic mishaps strike somewhat randomly throughout the general population. Babies do not chose to be economically deprived!

My view of life is that we are inherently more alike than not. The differences in our lives seem attributed to the impact of poverty on outcomes. Families do not do well if poor. Marriages are less likely to succeed. Poor health is correlated with various aspects of poverty, e.g., inadequate and inferior food and living conditions resulting in obesity, diabetes, asthma, and other medical conditions. 

Those living in segregated housing generally have less access to good schools that encourage academic achievement. People often chose communities to live because they support good educational systems. Those unable to exercise a choice are usually characterized by their own history of poverty and poor education, resulting in unrewarding jobs with poor pay. 

And this is looking at only this nation. What about those born in Haiti, parts of Africa and Asia, as well as other places in the world? It seems to go on and on. There is no end to the problems associated with poverty. 

No one chooses to be poor!

The worldview I have is a more equitable distribution of wealth. I support this vision both from a moral and selfish perspective.

 It is morally outrageous that the wealth of more successful people is not better shared with others. I look at my life as a gift of a series of fortunate strokes of luck. Given my early family history, it is still a mystery that I survived rather unscathed my childhood experiences. I surely do not attribute any success to my extraordinary capabilities. I was spared suffering consequences from some poor decisions and blessed by other experiences that turned out well. One could say that it was “dumb luck”. I surely was not clairvoyant, thinking strategically how best to further long term goals and objectives

My eight years studying to be a priest were less a good preparation for life than another test of survival. Our recent reunion of my priest brothers (53 years since ordination) was an opportunity to recall contemporaries now defamed because of pedophilia. Some have literally fallen off the face of the earth, i.e., no one knows what happened to them. I do not know what would have been my ultimate history if I did decide to leave on my terms. And I cannot claim that I was experienced in the business of choosing a partner in life. My choice was great in every way without giving me credit for such magnificent insight. 

In short, my good fortune in my choices makes me aware of my moral obligation to share my “wealth” with others. I have consistently admired nations that used its tax system to redistribute wealth for the benefit of everyone.

But, in addition to a moral obligation arising from my common humanity with others, there is also a selfish motive. I do see wars and conflicts arising from perceived injustices rising from the maldistribution of wealth and corruption. Instead of so much spent on weapons of war, why not work with others to use economic changes that enable people to live more easily at peace. Present discussions of problems associated with immigration reminds me that such issues would never surface if people could live justly and securely where they were born. People generally migrate to survive, as did my Irish ancestors. Irish society only worked for first-born males and women who married first-born males. Migrating was a mode to survival!

Until we address the societal unfairness resulting from economic disparities, we will continue to see that poor are more likely to have poor health, less successful education, poor choices in adult relationships, less rewarding jobs, and higher probability of a shorter lifespan.