10 June 2012
Robin Hood and Smashed Windows
John Agrestos’s screed in the 1 June 2012 WSJ sparked a spirited if narrowly populated exchange over the Internet regarding the morality of the tactics used by “conservative” and “liberal” activists. Not only does he disregard the fact that angry downtrodden mobs and the enforcers of oppressive regimes have both been guilty of smashing shop windows over time. But, he also speciously implies that someone told us that materialism and selfishness are the heart of “ordinary Americans.”
As they say in baseball, “It’s better to be lucky than just good.” Those fortunate enough to be among the “one-percent” are a bit small to hold against the rest of humanity the misplaced resentfulness that comes from their ignorance of that truth. Life is indeed unfair. Few of us have the genes that allow us to develop excellence in sports, politics, science, arts, or other areas of accomplishment.
Generosity of spirit is a little easier for the lucky ones to show than it is for those who are at the bottom of the endowment pool. That doesn’t excuse them from civil behavior; but it does demand corrective adjustments to the results of nature’s lottery.
John Agrestos’s screed in the 1 June 2012 WSJ sparked a spirited if narrowly populated exchange over the Internet regarding the morality of the tactics used by “conservative” and “liberal” activists. Not only does he disregard the fact that angry downtrodden mobs and the enforcers of oppressive regimes have both been guilty of smashing shop windows over time. But, he also speciously implies that someone told us that materialism and selfishness are the heart of “ordinary Americans.”
As they say in baseball, “It’s better to be lucky than just good.” Those fortunate enough to be among the “one-percent” are a bit small to hold against the rest of humanity the misplaced resentfulness that comes from their ignorance of that truth. Life is indeed unfair. Few of us have the genes that allow us to develop excellence in sports, politics, science, arts, or other areas of accomplishment.
Generosity of spirit is a little easier for the lucky ones to show than it is for those who are at the bottom of the endowment pool. That doesn’t excuse them from civil behavior; but it does demand corrective adjustments to the results of nature’s lottery.
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