Recent Fairness Commentaries

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Where’s the Beef?
A college friend looked at the Web site for the first time and concluded, “I like your site, but it takes too long to get to the meat and potatoes.” How about this:  “Do Good!” Clear, concise and took just thirty-three words to get there. The only problem is that like the previous commentary touting “Ethix” as a quick fix,...
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March 4, 2009
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Do Justly
Recently, a friend made this comment about a (June 21) commentary I posted about fairness:  “Fairness,” she said, borrowing from a previous statement about torture, “is basically subject to perception.” Is fairness perceptual?  What is a practical definition of fairness? “All virtue,” Aristotle wrote, “is summed up in dealing justly.” But what is justice?  What is a just or fair...
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June 26, 2008
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If Big Brown Can Do It…
“I know Big Brown or any of our horses do not need this stuff to win.  I’m not worried about an uneven playing field, either.” In a brief but significant statement, Michael Iavarone, co-president of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings just raised the bar for the rest of horse racing. Not only would more than 50 horses owned by his stable...
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June 23, 2008
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The Fairness Factor
“I know the world isn’t fair, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?” This insightful piece of absurdity comes courtesy of Bill Watterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoon strip. I thought about this while reading the results of a recent study by a pair of psychologists entitled, “Early Predictors of Job Burnout and Engagement.” Christina Maslach, a social psychologist...
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June 21, 2008

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
The Purpose and Course of Our Lives
About once a year, the American Film Institute invites filmgoers to vote on the greatest heroes in cinema. Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Superman typically...
Two Greeks Walk into an A.I. Bar . . .
They spot Donald Trump holding court. Curious, they approach and begin a conversation. Socrates: Tell me, sir, what is the nature of leadership? Is it...
Dispatches From the Front
Let me get this straight: … the Senate will vote to approve a woman with ties to authoritarian leaders, a man who has pushed vaccine...
Godfather, Part Now
“I don’t feel I have to wipe everyone out, Tom, just my enemies.”—Michael Corleone, The Godfather Note: I must pause my earlier commentary suggesting how...
The Political System Explained (from the opening of my doctoral thesis)
(Note: this is a rough draft and still undergoing revisions.) Welcome, esteemed colleagues, to a comprehensive exploration of one of the most perplexing and confounding...
Something Like a War
I’ve been revisiting Ken Burns’ series on the history of baseball, and it sparked some interesting comparisons to a subject that headlines the news daily....