Choices MUST Have Consequences

Imagine two students:

One student puts in hours each day studying math, poring over textbooks and practicing his skills on math-related online games so he can get ahead.

The second student effs off after school. He's happy doing the bare minimum to pass.

Question: Who's more likely to get an 800 on the math section of the SAT? Who's more likely to take Calculus - or even Differential Equations - in high school?

Question: If the first student gets into MIT and the second student doesn't, is that just?

Currently, I tutor three students who attend our local magnet school. None of them are spectacular intellects. They're just extremely motivated and work very, very hard. Indeed, they all came to me for math enrichment years before their admission to said magnet; consequently, they are all years ahead of their local peers.

(And incidentally, all three are black and/or Muslim.)

Different behaviors lead to different levels of achievement. Up and down the evolutionary scale, there are some strategies that lead to reproductive success and some strategies that don't. A squirrel that doesn't busy itself gathering nuts in good weather is a dead squirrel. This isn't oppression. This is life.

The radical left, however, seems hell-bent on denying this reality. Indeed, a common theme that links many of the enthusiasms of the social justice warrior is a desire to protect people from the consequences of their own bad choices.

Consider, for example, the fat acceptance movement. Obviously, no one should be mocked or otherwise mistreated for being overweight. But to expect to be celebrated as if you are just as beautiful as someone who is fit and thin? This is a patently unreasonable demand -- and I say this as a chunky gal. While there are some medical reasons why people may have more trouble than usual controlling their weight, in most cases, a fat person is fat because of his lifestyle. And don't worry: I include myself in that category. I take meds that impact weight gain -- but I could still stand to exercise more and do a better job monitoring my diet. The fact that I'm not currently making millions as a bikini model is a natural result of my laziness, and I accept it. SJW's, however, think I'm being persecuted somehow -- because they want to protect me from the consequences of my own choices.

Consider too the left's extreme embrace of legal abortion on demand at any time for any reason. When challenged on this, of course, leftists always retreat to the motte of "rape/incest/medical necessity," but everyone knows that the vast majority of abortions are performed for the sake of convenience. Sorry, ladies, but if you're not ready to have a kid, there's something very simple you can do instead of murdering a human being who didn't ask to exist: shut your damn legs. It's called delaying gratification. People do it all the time without exploding -- and they end up happier in the long run. This is common sense -- except to radical leftists who, again, want to protect women from the consequences of their own choices.

I don't deny that certain observed disparities are partially the result of systemic issues. This is certainly true in education, one of my personal areas of interest. It's incontrovertible that, due to the incompetence of certain local school districts, some students aren't getting equal access to rigorous, knowledge-based instruction -- and yes, that injustice should be corrected. But leftist ideology overemphasizes the importance of the system at the expense of - well - true justice. It seems to argue that the imposition of any standards at all is tantamount to perpetuating "white supremacist, cisheteronormative patriarchy" -- as if the targets of its mothering instincts are somehow incapable of the self-discipline that has allowed others to excel. (Who, exactly, are the bigots here?)

No: In an ideal society, people of all backgrounds who practice the traditional cardinal virtues - people of all backgrounds who work hard and refrain from indulging their every passing whim - should enjoy the reward of living reasonably comfortably. And those who don't? Well, we shouldn't let them die in the streets -- but we also shouldn't coddle them or pretend their decisions have been equally adaptive. Why? Because ultimately, that's not fair. Outputs should be proportional to your effort; otherwise, why put in any effort at all?