The Fairness Issue

In President Obama's State of the Union Address, the President called for fairness. How could any of us oppose fairness? To do so would seem almost anti-American. My question to Mr. Obama is, "who gets to decide what is fair?"

Several years ago, my first wife and I had dinner with 2 other couples. One of the couples ordered very expensive dinners with appetizers, desserts, drinks before dinner and fairly expensive wine. We on the other hand had no alchohol, no appetizers, no dessert and modest entrees. When the check came, the other two couples decided that we should all split the check evenly. Our bill was more than $100 more than it would have been. Was that fair?

At one point or another, I would bet that you have been in a similar situation.   Certainly, I think that we need to consider the fairest way to divide expenses BUT there is also the issue about whether or not it is fair to have certain expenses in the first place.   It is pretty easy to be generous when you are spending someone else's money.  We should be wary of those who would run up expenses for which they know they will not be personally responsible.  It is equally unfair to spend way beyond the budget and then cry foul because those who have to pay it object when you demand a payment way beyond what was expected .

If you think that the issue of fairness only applies to the wealthy, you should think again.  Consider energy costs.   Right now, the United States has large reserves of oil and gas, which our government will not allow us to mine.    Instead we are reliant on imported oil and gas.    Is it fair to expect our citizens to pay more for fuel? Is it fair to send these jobs to other countries when we have millions out of work here?

My point is that one should be careful claiming a superior moral position on fairness.  We should be wary of anyone making policy which by definition creates a preference of one group at the expense of another.

Just my opinion.  Have a great day.

BTW - If you would like an opinion on real estate, I provide opinions on that as well.   I specialize in Commercial Real Estate and help Buyers, Sellers, Landlords, Tenants and Investors.   I handle Office, Industrial, Land, Retail and Investment properties.   Heck, I can even set you up with someone to help with residential real estate.   Give me a call.  I would love to help.

ALSO - I am sure that my managing broker would appreciate me clarifying that the opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate, its brokers, agents, or employees (other than me, of course.)   If you would like to offer a different point of view, or even a supporting point of view, you may feel free to make a comment.  You should not however feel free to make inappropriate or offensive remarks.   Should I see any such remarks, I will exercise my right to delete them.

Thanks for reading!

David

David W. McCoy
Associate Broker
Commonwealth Commercial Real Estate
10444 Bluegrass Pkwy
Louisville, KY  40299

ofc: (502) 379-6005
cel: (502) 905-5274
e-mail: DMcCoy@ccre.biz