Fairness and Equality

This image depicts a scene outside of a baseball game. There is a fence with three people, a tall person, a medium height person, and a short person, all standing on boxes. The tall and medium height people can see over the fence, but the short person cannot. Over the fence is a view of the baseball game from the outfield. To the right of these people are five boxes stacked by the fence. Under the three people is the word ‘Equality’ typed, with the words ‘of opportunity is justice’ written by hand following it.

….There is no world in which a short person on a box who cannot see a baseball
game is unjust. This person had the same opportunity to make money and buy a ticket as everyone
in the stands, just as they have the equal opportunity to find another box (as I have drawn) or to
find something taller that they can stand on to watch a game that they did not pay for. They also
have the equal opportunity to likely go to any sports bar, order a water, and watch the baseball
game on TV. There are SO many ways in which this scenario can be explained to be just, and
while I understand that it is solely a simplified way to get the point across, I think that it just makes
it silly. also just wanted to show how much I believe equal opportunity and freedom is the root
of justice. There will always be differences between people in every system, and our goal should
not be to make them disappear. Our goal should be to make the system as just as possible and to
allow the differences between people’s talents and efforts distribute them around that system. It is
unjust (and arguably dystopian) to try to make everyone the same, with the same things…

-Madeleine L.

An image of two nature scenes, dividing the image in half. On the left side of the image is a watercolor-style image of a bright and healthy forest. Among the ranks of the pine trees in the background stands a thin, bright purple tree, in harmony with its environment. On the right side of the image is a dark photo of a dead forest in the background. In the foreground is another purple tree, its roots embedded in barren soil. In front of the purple tree is a white sprinkler. Attached to the purple tree is a tap and a bucket used to extract its sap

…When one
group, like the trees, are made to take more resources than they need, they become
less reliant on others, less participatory in the process of “cultivate[ing] equitably” that
Nussbaum and Allen highlight. This is reflected in the internal weakening of the trees
from no longer being connected to the surrounding ecosystem. The weakening of
community bonds can create less awareness and empathy, which becomes a vicious
cycle…

-Liz K.

Digital media piece featuring twenty baby pink triangles of varying sizes, set against a background of soft, layered circles. The innermost circle is hot pink, transitioning outward through rings of mustard yellow, pale green, light purple, and royal blue, with the outermost ring in deep purple.

….I wanted this background not only because it beckons back to a pie…but I think it’s also a great reminder that everything comes back to itself…Over top, I decided to do baby pink triangles represnting slices of a pie. I decided to vary their shape…because I found the point interesting that in conventional negotiations we, i.e., society, tend to operate on a plane wherein the size of the pie is finite but perhaps there is a landscape where we can build out and build a pie that is bigger than anything we might have initially envisioned…

-Hadley F.

An image of a white piece of paper taped under an accessible parking sign. The words on the paper are, “To the disabled: Your defective native endowments or current disabilities, alas, make your life less worth living than the lives of normal people. To compensate for this misfortune, we, the able ones, will give you extra resources, enough to make the worth of living your life good enough that at least one person out there thinks it is comparable to someone else's life.” The accessible parking sign has reserved parking on the top with green letters, a green perimeter, and a blue box with a silhouette of a person sitting in a wheelchair. The backdrop of this image is a beat-up tan wall.

“I decided to focus on Anderson’s ‘What Is The Point of Equality?’ and I really wanted to focus on the idea of equality of fortune…wherein some people can seem lesser or lower-class citizens…I wanted to relate the hypothetical letters [that Anderson uses to criticize luck egalitarians] to real life…

-Jack C.

Three scenes unfold on a white piece of paper. In the first square, three Characters, one tall man with a yellow shirt, one medium height man with a pink shirt, and one short man with a gray shirt are standing on equal sized piles of money. They are standing behind a fence behind a baseball field, where a game is going on. The tall character and the middle character are able to see over the fence and raise their hands over their heads, but the short character is not able to see the baseball game, because the money pile is not tall enough. The short man’s hands are by his side. All men have their head turned toward the field. This square is titled “EQUALITY”. In the second scene, the tall man’s money stack is missing, and he is still able to see the game. The tall man has an angry expression, and his arms are by his side. The medium man still has the same pile from before, and he has a neutral expression, his hands are by his side. The short man, now with the tall man’s money added to his own, is able to see the baseball game. He has his hands up in the air, and his head is turned toward the field. This square is titled “EQUITY”. In the third scene, the tall man, now wearing a suit is standing on a massive pile of money. He can see the game and he has both arms in the air with a big smile on his face. The medium and short man are dwarfed by this pile, with the medium man having slightly more money than the short man. The medium and the short man cannot see over the fence, and have both arms at their side. This square is titled “AMERICA”.

…When Professor Pickett came to our class, he asked one of our classmates, “Is taxation theft?”. I
created the “Equity” and “America” squares to show opposing opinions to this question. The
“Equity” section is how I picture those who believe that taxation is theft to view taxes. Human
nature is very greedy, and many people believe that being forced to pay money to help others is
unjust. I believe that taxes are important, but the legislative system should manage our tax
money better, so that it benefits the disadvantaged without putting such a large strain on the
middle and working classes.
The “America” square shows the other side of the argument. The tall man is now wearing a suit
and standing on a massive amount pile of money. The medium and short man look defeated
standing on their tiny piles, well below the fence. I titled this image “America” because I feel
that the wealth distribution in this country is detrimental to the quality of life of the
overwhelming majority…

-Riley M.

My art piece is a sketch featuring an envelope at the center. To its left is a dollar sign; to the right, unbalanced scales of justice. Surrounding the envelope are phrases like “I earned that!”, “No Fair!”, “$*!?”, and “It’s mine!”—all enclosed in a sketchy, dark atmosphere.

..In the final week of class, we conducted two social experiments exploring justice and the
distribution of resources. The discussions they sparked inspired my artwork for the week. These
experiments revealed surprising insights, particularly how quickly self-interest can surface in
group settings. It made me realize people can be more selfish than I had expected. Given that this
course focused on justice, I felt it was fitting to center my final project on the injustice we all
experienced firsthand—using art to reflect the very dynamics and tensions the experiments
exposed…

-KJ M.