What makes society fair or just?

This essay will define the two words and find out how they apply to society. We often use the
words fair and just to positively describe actions, people, decisions and policies. These words are
used for the actions or decisions of people or organs in positions of power by those upon whom
they exert power. A child calling his parent unfair seems quite similar to a defendant who was
found guilty, claiming that the ruling was unfair or unjust.

Fairness is treating all people by the same standards. It can apply to a courtroom or household
and any situation where one person has most of the power. For example, if two students write the
same answers on a test, the fair thing would be to give them the same grade. Giving one student
more points because the teacher likes them would be unfair. If two employees are considered for
a promotion, the decision should be based on their objective performance. It is unfair for the
employee performing worse to receive the promotion. A decision which follows a set of rules
is fair. In a fair society, people are equal before the law and are treated equally. If the rule is
"innocent until proven guilty", then this will be applied to everyone, regardless of ethnicity,
gender or other factors. Some actions, for example, occupying the elevator when a disabled
person needs to use it, are considered socially unacceptable, a fair society will hold everyone to
that standard, even a celebrity or a political or religious leader. In this case, the powerful "parent"
figure is society itself.

While we see fairness as an objective quality, something just is something morally right, and
although many people agree on some moral questions, others can be quite divisive. An example
could be drawn, again, from parenting. If one of two children were to hit the other, and then the
other would hit the first one in return, technically, both children committed the "crime" of hitting
their sibling once. Therefore, it would be fair to punish them equally. It might not, however,
be just, as the one returning the slap could have been more justified when doing it. Justice would
mean punishing the original aggressor instead of both children. Justice or justness rests on moral
codes and, therefore, is subjective.

Society often holds justice more important than fairness. If two criminals each assaulted a person
in the street without cause, it would be fair to give them the same punishment. Nevertheless,
suppose one of the victims was a small child. In that case, the judgment may shift from
straightforward fairness to justice, and the criminal who had assaulted a child might receive a
harsher punishment. He could claim that his sentence was unfair because there was no technical
difference, only an emotional one, between the two crimes. However, the media and the public
would most likely declare the punishment as fitting of the crime. A just society will judge every
transgression based on its moral codes. One of the values might be equity over equality. In this
case, for example, not requiring underprivileged students to pay school tuition exemplifies
a just society.

In conclusion, fairness is an objective quality present whenever any authority makes a decision,
whereas justness is something everyone decides based on their values. Both qualities have a
significant impact on any democratic or social process in our society.