1. Walk the Line Activity Agree or Disagree There is nothing unjust about having lots of poor people in a rich country. There may not be equal opportunity, but there is ample opportunity for anyone who works hard to make it. Poverty is largely the fault of those who are poor. The rich and successful have a right to what they have earned through their own efforts. It’s an injustice to force the rich to help the poor. Poverty in the midst of plenty represents a deep injustice. Much of the inequalities in modern-day society is the result of injustices in the ways in which our institutions and rules are organized rather than the outcome of lazy or irresponsible behavior.

2. The Justice and Injustice of Inequalities Modified Case Study Case 1Case 2Case 3 A police chief will only hire personal relatives – sons, daughters, cousins – as police officers. A small shop-owner is only willing to have his son or daughter become a co-owner of the store. In the US, one of the richest countries in the world, there are millions of people, children and adults, who live in desperate poverty. Which is just and which is unjust?

3. Case #1 Nepotism is widely considered unfair. Case #2 A shop owner has the right to decide who will or will not be a co-owner of the business. Case #3 What do you think after the “walk the line” activity? Case 1Case 2Case 3 A police chief will only hire personal relatives – sons, daughters, cousins – as police officers. A small shop-owner is only willing to have his son or daughter become a co-owner of the store. In the US, one of the richest countries in the world, there are millions of people, children and adults, who live in desperate poverty.

4. The fairness of what people get: Fair Play versus Fair Share Fair Play Inequalities are fair as long as the rules by which people compete for valued goods are fair. Sports: there are winners and losers. Losers have no complaints, as long as there is an equal playing field, no cheating, and a fair umpire. In the world at large, if there is no discrimination and no artificial barriers to each person’s “pursuit of happiness,” then high levels of inequalities are fair and just. As long as there is something approximating equal opportunity, inequality of results is unproblematic.

5. Fair Play versus Fair Share Fair Share Everyone is entitled to a share of society’s resources sufficient to live a dignified, flourishing life. Sports: It is not enough that there is a fair competition for these valued goods; the losers in that competition deserve a “fair share” of society’s bounty or the “winnings.” Everyone has a basic human right to good health care, to decent housing, and adequate nutrition.

6. Why does it matter? When people feel something is unjust, they are more likely to support efforts to change social institutions than when they think it is just What’s the issue with fair play? How can this present an inequality? High levels of inequality in income and wealth undermine the principles of fair play itself