Justice, fairness and privilege

As parents we are always seeking to inform our children about rules and justice and fairness. Our children's stories, particularly our more traditional tales, often also build these concepts (see our booklist Fairness, Justice and the Legal System). No matter how hard we try though, it seems as if sometimes some of the more prominent, or at least news-attracting, members of our society undermine those lessons by their behavior and the headlines they draw: politicians, sportsmen, prominent business people. Why should this be?

This article, Absolutely: Power corrupts but it only corrupts those who think they deserve it, from the January 23rd, 2010 Economist sheds some light. Interesting.

They argue, therefore, that people with power that they think is justified break rules not only because they can get away with it, but also because they feel at some intuitive level that they are entitled to take what they want. This sense of entitlement is crucial to understanding why people misbehave in high office. In its absence, abuses will be less likely. The word "privilege" translates as "private law". If Dr Lammers and Dr Galinsky are right, the sense which some powerful people seem to have that different rules apply to them is not just a convenient smoke screen. They genuinely believe it.