Scalzi dropped an interesting statement last night, asking if it makes sense to anyone else:

As I get older, I worry less about “life being fair” and worry rather more about justice.

For my part, I think it does, though to talk about it, one needs to define, exactly, "fairness" and "justice" mean (which is what most of John’s commenters have been endeavoring to do). Both are similar concepts, dealing with "each getting what they deserve", but are worlds apart in terms of scope.

Fairness, in my mind, conjures ideas both personal and cosmic. For the personal, I think of someone (usually a child, but not always) complaining that "Life isn’t fair!", in which "fair" means "giving me what I want", even if they’re invoking allusions to cosmic scales. "Fair" in that sense, is pretty narcissistic and selfish; people who bitch about fairness, in most cases, are ranting out at the universe (or whatever figure of authority) not being fair to them, or perhaps, being just as "fair" to someone else they don’t particularly like.

Of course, life isn’t fair. As much as I can appreciate the idea of those cosmic scales and the concept of Karma, all of my life experience tells me that the universe doesn’t work that way. The universe is basically a random system that offers equity only in the sense that, of itself, it disregards everyone and everything equally. The universe itself doesn’t care if you’ve been bad or good, it just is. In my opinion, life gets much easier to live once you stop expecting fairness from it.

Justice, on the other hand, is more of a human, societal concept; sure, the universe is inherently unfair, but as sentient beings, we can take the initiative to try and influence what we can. We can do what we can to make sure that those who get treated badly get what they need, assuming we recognize that all of us do better when each of us does better. It’s society’s way of working together to counteract the universe’s inherent unfairness.

Personally, I think this is where the various world religion’s concepts of fairness by divine imposition comes about, whether we’re talking about Karma, or the concept that "(a just) God will provide"; this balance exists entirely within in us, not within the very fabric in the universe. The sacred texts of the religions of the world (as written, if not in practice) bear this out; Islam’s concept of Zakah, Jesus’s "least of these" in Matthew 25, and heck, even The Golden Rule (which basically a common thread in all world religions); all of these passages encourage followers to actively work toward establishing justice, working toward making things equitable and better (y’know, "fair", if I were to break from my differentiation) for those for whom it isn’t; in direct opposition to the inherent unfairness of the universe. if you’re looking for where God (yours, mine, or anyone else’s) made the universe fair and just, I think that’s where you’ll find the mechanism.

So yeah, I agree with Scalzi’s sentiment; as I get older, I at least hope I’ve become less concerned with the selfish concept of "fairness" ("what can the universe do for me"), and more concerened about "justice", that is, doing what I can to make things better for all of us ("what can I do for society"). Part of the maturation process for humans (or any social animal, for that matter) is learning to see beyond one’s immediate needs and wants, and looking toward their contribution to society as a whole; giving of oneself where one can, rather than simply demanding and "taking what’s mine" at the expense of others. Recognizing that if I, and everyone else, gave at least a little of themselves to the community as a whole, we’d all be better off.

It’s why I’ve been ranting on and on these last couple of weeks about where I stand on health care. It’s why I give money and time to those groups over there → in the "worthy causes" box. It’s why I put the needs of my wife and kids ahead of myself. It’s why I don’t complain about paying taxes for things in the interest of "the common good" (though I’ll disagree with some on what "the common good" means). In the larger sense, "We" is more important to me that "I".

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together"; that’s justice (even if the rest of the song doesn’t make much sense), and yeah, I find myself caring more about that, than expecting the universe to just give me what I want, more and more, as time marches on.

Goo Goo Ga Joob