When I was a little girl I remember telling my dad that something wasn't fair and he told me "Life isn't fair." I remember being so angry because I thought things should be fair. My father asked, "That poor canary that was eaten by the cat, was that fair?" I said "No." He asked, "How about that friend at school who can't walk and never could, but you can, is that fair?" I said "No." These examples are things we have no control over. Nature isn't fair.
On the other hand, my mother always tried to make things fair between my sister and me. If she bought me something then she would buy my sister something too. She would always try to be fair so we wouldn't feel like she favored one of us over the other. But in order to be fair, my mother wouldn't think of taking away half of my sister's trophies and give them to me just because I didn't have any. My sister won the trophies and I did nothing to deserve them. If you want two sisters to fight or dislike each other, continuously favor or give things to one and not the other.
I think it is human nature to want things to be fair. I also think it is one of the main reasons why so many Americans are so angry with our government. This government is continuously favoring one group of people over another and that is not fair.
First, we had taxpayer bailouts for big businesses but the little businesses struggle and close up. They say big businesses are too big to fail. Why not have too small to fail? How would you feel if your small business just needed a small loan to get through the hard times but the big bailed out banks refused? Could it be the politicians get big bucks from big business?
Then, the government favored the unions over the lawful rights of the bond holders in the Chrysler bankruptcy. Since when did we start changing the rules in the middle of the game? How angry would you be if you were playing Black Jack and you held an ace and a king, then the dealer said, "You lose, I just decided you can't use an ace?"
Also, we have people who bought houses they couldn't afford and instead of foreclosing on their homes, they get taxpayer funded mortgage bailouts. Some of these people have been living in their houses for a year or more and haven't paid a dime. How do you feel knowing your tax money is making mortgage payments for people who were irresponsible? I heard today our government now owns 96.5 percent of all home mortgages.
In addition, we have illegal immigrants pouring over our borders totally disregarding our laws, while legal immigrants wait years to come to America. How would you feel if you finally came to America, only to hear the government was considering amnesty for the illegal immigrants? Even the family parks, like Six Flags, throw line jumpers out of the park, because they know it isn't fair to those who patiently wait their turn in line.
Before the election in 2008, we had a hint of what was to come when Barrack Obama told Joe the Plumber he wanted to share Joe's wealth with people who did nothing to create Joe's wealth. It seems Obama wants to be generous, but with other people's money. If you look at Barrack Obama's tax returns he gave 1 percent in 2000 to charities, in 2001 he gave .5 percent, in 2002 he gave .4 percent and in 2003 he gave 1.4 percent. Now if Obama really believed in sharing the wealth why did he not give 20 percent , 30 percent or 50 percent of his wealth and share it with others? Is it fair Barrack Obama won't share his wealth but wants to take from hardworking citizens and spread theirs around to the people he chooses as worthy?
This unfair attitude our government has is dividing our country and pitting one group of citizens against another. I am not sure why they would want to do this but it is obviously on purpose and it is bad for our country. Our government is wanting to tell us what is right or best for us like we are their children. Even in Earl Pomeroy's letter to the editor and his campaign ads he tells us he knows what is right for you and North Dakota. Before the politicians start acting as our parents I suggest they take some parenting classes and learn about fairness.
Life isn't fair, never was or will be but our government should stop acting like the cat that ate the canary.
(Johnson is one of four community columnists for The Minot Daily News)