All posts tagged: unfairness

When Unfairness Is Systemic, The Consequences Are Flight, Resistance, Revolt

When Unfairness Is Systemic, The Consequences Are Flight, Resistance, Revolt

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, Now that we’ve drained the aquifers of a stable society, the replacement form of “wealth” is a delusional credit-asset bubble that generates the illusion of “wealth.” Let’s weave together two threads that look different: systemic unfairness and civilizational psychosis. As I often note, social species that organize themselves into hierarchies (i.e. primates, including humans) have an innate sensitivity to fairness, as this trait is essential to maintaining social stability, and therefore it has been selected as advantageous. This sensitivity applies both to individual instances of unfairness / injustice and to systemic unfairness / injustice. If there is no redress when an individual is treated unfairly or abused, the social order is weakened. This is why early civilizations instituted legal codes and systems of redress as they expanded into nations / empires that needed bureaucracies to organize, manage and enforce the rules and responsibilities of every class. If the mechanisms of redress have become empty shams, then the unfairness is systemic: it isn’t just some individuals who have been treated unfairly–everyone is being …

Left-leaning support for redistribution stems from perceived unfairness rather than malicious envy

Left-leaning support for redistribution stems from perceived unfairness rather than malicious envy

Published by José Betancourt

A new study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that public support for wealth redistribution is driven by beliefs about fairness rather than jealousy toward the rich. The findings indicate that people who favor taxing the wealthy are primarily motivated by the perception that extreme wealth is not strictly earned through hard work. This research provides evidence that the popular “politics of envy” narrative, which claims left-leaning individuals just want to punish the successful, is largely inaccurate. Critics often dismiss support for economic redistribution as being fueled by malicious envy, which is a hostile and painful desire to see superior or wealthy individuals lose their advantages. This idea suggests that left-leaning individuals favor redistributive policies simply out of resentment for those who have achieved financial success. However, previous empirical links between left-wing political views and envy have been inconsistent and weak. The scientists suspected that past discussions overlooked a major psychological mechanism known as meritocracy beliefs. Meritocracy is the belief that social systems are generally fair, providing equal opportunities to all, and …