To be Fair is to be Free Throughout life, many people often find themselves saying or thinking the expression its not

fair! To be honest, most people think that life is not fair. It is not fair that there should be rulers who decree the majority think, feel, and act as they command. It is not fair that talented people should have to check their optimum performance so that those who are mediocre should not be aware of their deficiencies. It is not fair to limit freedom of speech over the radio when the listeners desire impartiality and open-mindedness. People crave a life of freedom and fairness, to be able to decide what to do when they want to do it. They do not want to be forced into undesirable situations, instances where they have to curb their talents, opinions, or actions. In other words, to live a fair life is to be free. The word freedom has many definitions. One is the absence of coercion or constraint in choice or action. (Websters College Dictionary, p. 478) Fair is defined in the dictionary as marked by impartiality and honesty: free from self interest, prejudice, or favoritism. (Websters College Dictionary, p. 530) Putting these two terms together results in unrestricted actions unobstructed by others opinions, prejudice, or biased beliefs. The Declaration of Independence was written in the eighteenth century as a culmination of ideas, arguments, and beliefs of American colonists. In it they listed the crimes of George III, and put forward the case that these crimes violated the natural rights of those living in the colonies and therefore freed them from all obligation to the crown. (Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, 2005) The Declaration was a way the American colonists could express their desire for fairness and freedom by enumerating the crimes of the English while using political theories of the time from such people like Thomas Paine, John Locke, and Thomas

Jefferson to create a new government that supported fairness, freedom, and equality. (Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, 2005) The English had for a long time oppressed the Americans with unfair laws and taxes. Examples would be the Intolerable Acts (1774), the Navigation Acts (1651), the Declaratory Act (1766), etc. American colonists felt it to be unfair that they should be taxed and ruled over without their having their own representatives in Parliament. As a result of many years of arguments and actions from both the American and British parties, the American Revolution began with the introduction of The Declaration of Independence. (Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, 2005) There are three parts to the Declaration. The first is their reason for declaring independence. The second lists the twenty-seven complaints the Americans had against the British. Examples from the document include statements such as For quartering large bodies of armed troops among usFor cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent. (Declaration of Independence) All these and more were considered unfair treatments the colonists had to face, and in order to get their fair rights, they sought freedom. Harrison Bergeron is a story by Kurt Vonnegut about a futuristic society that has tried to eradicate differences among humans. To do this, those who are above average intelligence, beauty, physical strength, or have any other talent or perfection must handicap themselves so they are no greater than the average person. Harrison is one of the few people who is talented in almost everything, and therefore, is forced to bear numerous handicaps that decreases his physical and mental prowess. The story takes place when Harrison breaks free of his imprisonment, breaks off his handicaps, and proclaims himself emperor. His newfound victory is not long lasting, and

soon the Handicapper General regains control, always ensuring that everyone is equal. (Vonnegut, Kurt. Harrison Bergeron) This society is a takeoff of what would happen if a government or the like would literally interpret the words from the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. (Declaration of Independence) Vonnegut saw such instances occurring in countries like Russia, China, or even among religious cults, where people would have either no class distinction or all would dress similarly. This story illustrates how equality, while a nice goal for some, should not be at expense to the fairness, rights, or freedom of others. George, Harrisons father, is slightly more mentally and physically capable than the average. To counteract that, he is forced to bear handicaps that blast sirens and loud noises in his ears every twenty seconds. This allows the reader to see how a typical person, who is even slightly above the average, would be treated in an equal world. S/he would have no place to develop his/her talents and abilities in such an environment. It cannot be a fair society unless there is freedom to better oneself. It is not fair that those such as Harrison and George should have to be burdened with handicaps so that those not on their level would not feel inferior to them. At the end, Vonnegut implies that a government cannot successfully suppress excellence and individuality. Eventually, people like Harrison will emerge, people who defy all attempts to shackle and equalize them because they realizes it is not fair. (Mowery, 2002) Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration, and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace. (Eisenhower) This statement of former President Eisenhower reveals that the road to peace is not through physical force but through other considerations like fairness, justice, consideration, and cooperation. This shows how erroneous it is of a society like the one Vonnegut created in Harrison Bergeron to use

force to equalize everyone in the governments drive for equality and fairness. Force does not lead to peace or happiness. Instead, it encourages the opposite extremes like war and rebellion. O. Henry wrote many short stories about fairness, justice, consideration, and cooperation. One of his most famous is The Last Leaf. It is a story of human love and compassion, of one old man sacrificing his life to save a friends. Old Behrman always wanted to paint a masterpiece, and he did so when he painted a leaf that ended up saving the life of a young friend of his. The emotions of justice, fairness, consideration, and more are all woven into the story as the readers question whether it was fair for the old man to give up his life for the young lady. The compassion of Behrman is apparent till the end, where he continued to care for his young friend to the best of his abilities. (O. Henry, The Last Leaf) The Last Leaf by O. Henry is a contrast to the world of Harrison Bergeron. Instead of the government forcing the characters in the story to be equal, each and every person leads his/her own life, fighting to earn his/her own in a harsh world. Doctors and painters make up this short story, but all practice their field uninhibited. According to the dictum of Harrisons world, there would be constant competition if everyone was different and unequal. In The Last Leaf, however, there is no obvious competition between the three artists mentioned. Rather, they try to help one another, to be there for the other when one needs help. This compassionate relationship would not exist in Harrisons world. This is seen when Harrisons parents, George and Hazel, do not clearly remember the death of their own son minutes after the occurrence. Instead, Hazel finds herself crying about something real sad on television (Vonnegut, p. 6) but could not remember what it was. George has a handicap that makes him hear loud noises every twenty seconds, so he too cannot recall the death of his son. Instead, he comforts his wife by telling her to forget bad things (Vonnegut, p. 6) which she agrees to do. Neither of them mourns the loss of their son for longer than when it happened. This is in contrast to the imperfect world of The

Last Leaf where, as unequal as the characters are, they would still do their utmost for the other, and for Behrman, that meant he would risk his life to help a friend. In the end, it was not the characters in Harrison Bergeron that had peace. It was those from The Last Leaf who were at peace with themselves. No one tried to break free and demand fairness. Life in The Last Leaf means that actions and talents determine what happens to a person. Forcing people to behave in certain ways to ensure equality will not lead to peace and happiness, because such a life is not fair. The Fairness Doctrine was created in 1949 because of the scarcity of air waves. With so few air waves out there, some were of the opinion that talk show hosts should give all sides of a story instead of limiting it to their own point of view. In other words, talk hosts would have to inform listeners of contrasting opinions whenever they brought up current issues. This scarcity of airwaves was no longer a concern with the advent of television and FM stations, so in 1987, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) repealed the doctrine. The issue came up again later on with the conservative dominated talk radio station. National radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh have such a devoted following that some have said these hosts were able to influence laws and bills in the Senate. This concerned opposing parties, and some opted for a return of the doctrine. (Chinni, 2007) What is not fair about the Fairness Doctrine? The answer lies in the definition of freedom of speech, which is one of the first five amendments to the Constitution. Free speech is the freedom to express ones opinions without censorship, legal penalty, etc. (OED Online, 2010) The right of freedom of speech is not about balance. Its about an imbalance. That people should be able to talk as much as they want to persuade others that a certain view is right. Once that freedom is taken away, or even limited to the smallest extent, they no longer have the ability to convince others like they had been able to do beforehand. Once it is necessary to bring in the

other point of view, radio hosts lose some of the advantage they had to convince others of their point. In a free country like America, this is like censorship. According to DuBois in the Boston Globe, talk radio should be considered free enterprise. Just as business owners do not want the government interfering in their business, so too radio hosts should not suffer government interference, especially when the First Amendment is concerned. (Forget the Fairness Doctrine, November 14, 2009) Basically, freedom of speech is a freedom that, without it, there is no fairness on the radio. It is like Camus said, a free press can of course be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom, it will never be anything but bad. (Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, 1960) Perhaps one of the biggest questions on fairness and freedom in history was at the time of the French Revolution. In a pamphlet written by Abb Sieyes titled, What is the Third Estate, the question comes up forcing people to ask who does most of the dirty work of the country, and do they benefit the most from it. According to Sieyes and most historians, the answer is the Third Estate, the common, peasant people, and no, they do not benefit from most of their work. Instead, their work is enjoyed by the other classes is society. For the Third Estate, fair meant eating a meal at the end of a hard work day and living their lives in peace with no fear of death from a displeased noble. As Sieyes says, What is the Third Estate? Everything; but an everything shackled and oppressed. What would it be without the privileged order? Everything, but an everything free and flourishing. Nothing can succeed without it, everything would be infinitely better without the others. (Sieyes) Sieyess aim is to point out how unfair it was for the Third Estate to do the work of the First and Second Estates in France with none of the benefits of the First and Second. France had been too long under the rule of a king and queen with the nobles of the First and Second Estates getting

most of the benefits from the hard work of the peasants, or the Third Estate. Like in the Declaration of Independence, when the American colonists had tried to gain freedom from an oppressive government, here too, the Third Estate, which was, in reality, the backbone of the entire country economically, tried to gain their freedom in order to regain fairness. (Sieyes) In conclusion, life is not fair unless there is freedom. Without freedom, there would be no Declaration of Independence or an independent country called the United States of America. The world might be a copy of Harrison Bergerons, where people are forced to be equal so that others who are not above the average feel that life is fair. The government should not be allowed to control the peoples freedoms and rights like the English tried to do to the American colonists, the French to the Third Estate, and the ways political parties try to rid opposition via limiting freedom of speech by passing laws like the Fairness Doctrine. Succinctly, it is when others try to take away the freedoms and rights of the people, that the question of fairness comes to play. To live a fair life is to be free! Word count 2,294

Works Cited Brendan DuBois. "Forget the Fairness Doctrine. " Boston Globe 14 Nov. 2009, ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. Camus, Albert. "Resistance, Rebellion, and Death." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1960 ed. Vintage Books, 1961. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. "Declaration of Independence, US." Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Credo Reference. Web. 07 April 2010. "Fair." Webster's College Dictionary. 1995 ed. New York: Random House, 1995. Print. "Free speech." Oxford English Dictionary. OED Online. Rev. March 2010. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. "Freedom." Webster's College Dictionary. 1995 ed. New York: Random House, 1995. Print. Henry, O. The Last Leaf. www.classicshorts.com, 1862-1910. Print. Chinni, Dante. "Is the Fairness Doctrine Fair Game?" Project for Excellence in Journalism 19 July 2007: n. pag. Pew Research Center Publications. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. Kraus, Lydia R. Departmental Handbook-Comp II. Touro College: Dept. of English, Fall/Spring/Summer 2009-2010. Print. Mowery, Carl. "Harrison Bergeron." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Apr. 2010.

Sieyes, Abbe. What is the Third Estate? N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. United States. Cong. U.S. Government. The Declaration of Independence. www.ushistory.org. Touro College EReserves, 4 July 1995. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. Vonnegut, Kurt. Harrison Bergeron. N.p.: n.p., 1961. Touro Library EReserves. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.