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A Response To Stanley Fish? S 'That's Not Fair'

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That’s Not Fair That’s not fair! How many times have we heard this statement uttered? Stanley Fish, author of the article “Fair Is Fair,” points out that fairness is better than equality and the idea that “everyone should have the same stuff.” Is life fair and are we all as Americans presented with equal opportunities? The Declaration of Independence drafted on July 4, 1776 states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” According to this document, every American citizen should have access to any opportunity that has the potential to enhance his health, happiness, or, prosperity. …show more content…

He uses as an illustration, President Obama and his choice to emphasize fairness over equality in a State of the Union address given in 2011. Fish also uses the example concerning Mitt Romney’s taxes. The issue here does not concern the money that Romney makes, instead, most people would agree it is not fair that he pay a lower tax rate than his housekeeper. The remainder of the article is mostly comprised of personal opinion. To address the author’s issues, I do believe that all children should have the same educational opportunities. Adults should have reasonable health insurance coverage, so as not to abuse the system. The Web should be protected from Internet pirates in China. The rich should not have a more powerful voice than the poor. Finally, insurance companies should not charge outrageous premiums to in turn slap a pre-existing condition onto a policy. However, this is far from a perfect world. We live in the land of opportunity, fair or not. Fish states in the conclusion of his article, “Everyone understands fair, and fair is the word Obama should be uttering again and again and again.” I personally believe that to be successful in life we must seize every opportunity that comes our way. After all, we have only one life to live and should make the most of every

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