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This Simple Thought Experiment Explains Why the Rich Don't Give a Damn About Fairness
John Rawls' veil of ignorance vs. why we can't have nice things.
Imagine you have died. Sorry about that.
An angel suddenly appears before you and promises rebirth. However, to determine your birth circumstances, you must roll a pair of dice.
Roll high, and you will probably be born some wealthy, white, handsome son of a hedge fund manager. Roll low, and you are stuck as a poor, undocumented, snaggle-toothed daughter of a janitor.
No do-overs. That one roll of the dice determines your start in life.
But here's the twist — you get to make the rules for the world you are born into. You can create a world with universal healthcare, decent wages, affordable housing, equal education, funded childcare, and a four-day work week that ends with a hot tub filled with naked Jason Momoa lookalikes. (My dice roll. My rules.)
This thought experiment is John Rawls' veil of ignorance. Rawls argues that when you don't know where you'll end up, you will build a fairer society. In essence, he challenges people to pose an uncomfortable question: What if people can't pull themselves out of a shitty life with mere grit, determination, and bootstraps?
