Blog #12: Life's not fair.

Our class discussion about the fairness of the college application process is a parallel argument to the question of whether or not the economic success or failure of a state is a fair outcome. Ultimately, the answer is that it is irrelevant because fairness is too vague and subjective of a term, and regardless of whether one considers it to be fair or not, we should focus on how to uplift states who struggle in order to create a better, more efficient global structure. Theoretically, when you work hard to build a stellar college application consisting of various components, you should get into a good school. However, this is not always the case. Today, there are simply too many college applicants for schools to accept. Therefore, the best colleges are forced to cut people for reasons beyond the power of the students such as geographical location, and ethnicity. In the book “Outliers,” author Matthew Gladwell suggests that universities should instead make two separate piles of applicants: good enough, and not good enough. They should then essentially pick names out of a hat from the “good enough” pile in order to create the most balanced system of choosing its incoming freshmen. However, since that is not the case, we are taught to work around the system. College counselors tell their students to apply to many different schools including safety schools, and to manipulate their applications to make them stand out among thousands. In today’s world, it’s more about standing out instead of having a perfect application.

Like college applications, not all states have perfect applications with different components like a strong military, efficient economy, and a peaceful progressive society. Therefore, states must do what we students are taught to do and manipulate its individual strengths. This is why natural resources are incredibly important. If a state can efficiently make use out of its natural resources, then it can grow because economic success results from an increase in productivity. If a state can do something unique with its natural resources, it will stand out in the world. However, it is always possible that a certain state is unable to do this for economic or various other reasons. This is by no means “fair,” but it should not necessarily have to be fair. There is no entitlement to economic success, just as there is not entitlement to going to your first choice college. A student, or state can only strive for success.