Do you think life is fair?

Timewise 60+ said:
Really, competition creates winners and losers. Some losers feel the competition was not fair! Have you not heard that? Justice is a word that is abstract. What is justice to one person, or one group of people can be just the opposite to others. Like most words we use in this discussion, the concepts are abstract...easy for us to banter back and forth. But, really cannot be tied down to make a point! So I move on...
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And they might be right. Maybe it wasn't fair. And that's why I said that a fair and just life would be "delightful."
 

No, life isn't fair. Here's an example...

Patrick Mahomes was born into a wealthy family. His father was a professional baseball player. In all likelihood, he grew up in a healthy, nurturing environment, which helped him become successful. He had everything he needed to thrive in sports, including a natural ability, some of which may have been inherited.

I'm currently reading a book about James Earl Ray. He grew up dirt poor, was physically abused by his father, and was teased and bullied by his classmates because of his appearance. He led a life of crime, but also had ambition to try to improve his lot in life. He went to bartending school, had plastic surgery to improve his looks, and took other positive actions. It just wasn't meant to be.

People who grow up in good families are likely to become good, productive members of society. People who grow up in unhealthy environments are likely to become criminals and wind up in prison. For the latter group, life definitely isn't fair.

Society would benefit immensely if we could "level the playing field," so to speak. I don't know how we would accomplish that, and it's not likely to happen any time soon, so I don't give it much thought. Things are likely to become worse before they get better.
 

I keep repeating daily the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage and energy to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

Just remember that millions grow up in bad environments like the citizens of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.

Finally, it should be noted that here in America we murdered 15 million Indians and enslaved 6 million black Africans.
 
Out justice system is definitely not fair. A poor person could go to prison for something a rich person would get away with, simply because of the latter's connections and higher quality lawyers.
 
Murrmurr said:
I posted this: I tell you, I can visualize it all. This couldn't be a dream. How real it all seems.
after @Farrah Nuff posted "I imagine things too. Sometimes it feels like just my imagination, running away with me."
because it's the following lyrics to "It Was Just My Imagination" by The Temptations.

I don't have dreams anymore (sleep-dreams, that is). In my whole life I've only dreamed 5 times, and 2 of those dreams were exactly the same.

Anyway, my answer to "Is life fair?" stands: No, it isn't. And I have nothing to add except maybe that you just have to learn to deal with it.

Oh! I just had a thought....you've got a lot of people who don't know how to deal with it because their parents didn't know they were supposed to teach them how. And then there are parents who literally destroy their kids' ability to cope with even life's simplest challenges, and other parents who throw more challenges at their kids than life ever would, and from a very early age, too.

So, yeah; life isn't fair.
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We all come to our own conclusions and I respect yours. However, I totally disagree šŸ˜ƒ
Depending on one's age, what parents did or did not do often can be corrected and changed. Parents are not perfect people either and it helps to keep that in mind.

As for your not dreaming..have you ever tried setting the alarm in the middle of the night to discover if you are dreaming. I read that is one way to check...
 
JustDave said:
Maybe the problem is that death isn't fair. But I think I could make the argument is that nothing is more fair than death. It is the great equalizer, and treats everyone the same. It's true that some "deaths" are more painful than others, but I used the quotes, because unequal pain is more a function of life.

Having said all that, I wish all of us the best.
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I agree and I could make an argument that death is fair as well..being an equalizer is one of the main reasons. But if there is life after life and some of the theories are correct, there could be an amazing fairness we will only understand in time..
IMO reincarnation seems fair though I do not really hope for it:unsure::)
 
Murrmurr said:
The few I remember were violent except for one, which was literally other-worldly. And I dreamed that one twice, so if dreaming is actually astral projection, I've gone to school on Mars a couple times. Or my astral-self did, I guess.
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Nope. It all came from within you, the most spacious universe there is.
 
Serenity4321 said:
We all come to our own conclusions and I respect yours. However, I totally disagree šŸ˜ƒ
Depending on one's age, what parents did or did not do often can be corrected and changed. Parents are not perfect people either and it helps to keep that in mind.

As for your not dreaming..have you ever tried setting the alarm in the middle of the night to discover if you are dreaming. I read that is one way to check...
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Ok, re: the "just my imagination" part, I was quoting some song lyrics. Just havin' fun with @Farrah Nuff .

As for not dreaming, no, I haven't tried that. For one thing, I have a hard time getting to sleep, so I'm not gonna wake myself up. Even if I tried that, I'd just say WTFH?? and go back to sleep. And for another, I'm not at all curious about it.

I do remember some dreams, quite vividly. They're either very violent in a mass murder sort of way, or they're really weird and unrelatable.
 
Serenity4321 said:
We all come to our own conclusions and I respect yours. However, I totally disagree šŸ˜ƒ
Depending on one's age, what parents did or did not do often can be corrected and changed. Parents are not perfect people either and it helps to keep that in mind.

As for your not dreaming..have you ever tried setting the alarm in the middle of the night to discover if you are dreaming. I read that is one way to check...
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Sorry, I just realized that what you disagree with is the part about parents. I have to disagree with your assessment that emotional damage and mental illness parents may cause can be corrected and changed. I don't believe that's always the case. In fact, I think only well educated, experienced therapists can recognize that kind of damage and know how to treat it.

I'll go out on a limb and say that most people eventually learn to cope with their parents' fears and anger and emotional walls that were inflicted on their kids, consciously and not. The problem is that, while some people cope through maturity and understanding, others cope through violence or substance abuse or by building their own walls, and some even become suicidal. And it's a travesty that the majority of those people who get therapy and treatment will more likely than not get it from "professionals" who've had only 9 months of training. The lucky ones will get a therapist with a 2-yr degree in mental health services.

You can find therapists who have 4-yrs of college, or even a university education in mental health, but they are very rare, they're expensive, and they generally do not accept Medicare or Medicaid.
 
Disgustedman said:
However I'm not going apologize for what happened 100-200 years ago. That blood is on the ancestors hands, not mine.
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Disgustedman said:
However I'm not going apologize for what happened 100-200 years ago. That blood is on the ancestors hands, not mine.
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Mitch86 said:
I keep repeating daily the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage and energy to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

Just remember that millions grow up in bad environments like the citizens of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.

Mitch86 said:
I keep repeating daily the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage and energy to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

Just remember that millions grow up in bad environments like the citizens of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.

Finally, it should be noted that here in America we murdered 15 million Indians and enslaved 6 million black Africans.
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million black Africans.
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As regards to your last sentence, this can be said for almost all societies, no just Americans. Not all slaves are black either.
 

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