But the post talks about “fair” vs. “unfair” not “good” vs “bad”. And if you want to say an Action is fair for us but unfair for them, you would need additional rules to distinguish between the Actions in respect to the Actors. Otherwise, it would indeed be hypocrisy. (Not that it matters too much, this is not sports.)
Remember, right-wingers use words differently. They use “unfair” the same way my toddler uses it. In this case “unfair” means “I don’t like that and I use a word that makes it sound like that’s not just my opinion”.
Fairness and mutual benefit are a specific trait of a left-wing world-view. If you accept that everyone should have the same, fair chances and that working together brings mutual benefit, that already puts you squarely into a left-wing position.
The main right-wing world view on the other hand is self-centred. “I am the person who is most important to me. If I don’t benefit, I’m out.”
This goes through all parts of left/right views and politics. On the left, people are ok with social monetary transfers, even if it might harm their bottom line, because they think it’s fair that poor people can afford to live. On the right, people are envious of people receiving benefits. On the left, people are against billionaires, because they take money from poor people to enrich themselves. On the right, people worship billionaires because they want to be like them. On the left people are for asylum, because they think it’s only fair to provide people with a safe place to live. On the right people are against asylum, because they think asylum seekers will take money from them.
Because of that, “fair” and “unfair” mean different things on the left and the right. A left-winger who has a high salary might say “It’s unfair, that I earn so much and the person who makes my food doesn’t. Let’s raise minimum wages.” A right-winger might say “It’s unfair to raise minimum wages, because the guy who makes my food could have just gone to university like me, and increasing the minimum wage means my burgers won’t be as cheap as they are now.”
Left-wingers see fairness as an universal standard, that has to be applied to everyone even to their own detriment. Right-wingers see fairness as a way for them to increase the share they are getting.
That’s a really great point. I agree that the fair versus unfair distinction does imply a universally shared rubric. However… I’m not sure if the fairness of it was actually ever asserted by the government one way or another - from what I’ve heard, they’ve only ever asserted the good or badness of it. So I still suspect that the post may be missing the real hole in the opponent’s armor and instead attacking a strawman.
But the post talks about “fair” vs. “unfair” not “good” vs “bad”. And if you want to say an Action is fair for us but unfair for them, you would need additional rules to distinguish between the Actions in respect to the Actors. Otherwise, it would indeed be hypocrisy. (Not that it matters too much, this is not sports.)
Remember, right-wingers use words differently. They use “unfair” the same way my toddler uses it. In this case “unfair” means “I don’t like that and I use a word that makes it sound like that’s not just my opinion”.
Fairness and mutual benefit are a specific trait of a left-wing world-view. If you accept that everyone should have the same, fair chances and that working together brings mutual benefit, that already puts you squarely into a left-wing position.
The main right-wing world view on the other hand is self-centred. “I am the person who is most important to me. If I don’t benefit, I’m out.”
This goes through all parts of left/right views and politics. On the left, people are ok with social monetary transfers, even if it might harm their bottom line, because they think it’s fair that poor people can afford to live. On the right, people are envious of people receiving benefits. On the left, people are against billionaires, because they take money from poor people to enrich themselves. On the right, people worship billionaires because they want to be like them. On the left people are for asylum, because they think it’s only fair to provide people with a safe place to live. On the right people are against asylum, because they think asylum seekers will take money from them.
Because of that, “fair” and “unfair” mean different things on the left and the right. A left-winger who has a high salary might say “It’s unfair, that I earn so much and the person who makes my food doesn’t. Let’s raise minimum wages.” A right-winger might say “It’s unfair to raise minimum wages, because the guy who makes my food could have just gone to university like me, and increasing the minimum wage means my burgers won’t be as cheap as they are now.”
Left-wingers see fairness as an universal standard, that has to be applied to everyone even to their own detriment. Right-wingers see fairness as a way for them to increase the share they are getting.
That’s a really great point. I agree that the fair versus unfair distinction does imply a universally shared rubric. However… I’m not sure if the fairness of it was actually ever asserted by the government one way or another - from what I’ve heard, they’ve only ever asserted the good or badness of it. So I still suspect that the post may be missing the real hole in the opponent’s armor and instead attacking a strawman.