A Fair Throw

Albany : "That's not fair!"

T : "Why not?"

Albany : "Because the girls had more opportunities than the boys, sir."

T : "So fairness is equal opportunities?"

Albany : "Yes sir."

T : "OK, let's test that, shall we? Here are 8 dice: take one each and roll it, noting down your score. Then pretend that your score is what you earned for an hour's work."

T : "All done; let's see..."

T : "So, Albany and Carstairs, you earned 1. Let's call that minimum wage shall we... Hughes, Robinson and Wilkinson you did better, 6 times better. Is that fair?"

Albany : "Er."

Hughes : "It was just random, sir. It should average out in the end."

T : "OK: keep working then. Add on another 9 throws and put your hand up when you're done."

T : "Hmmm. Albany, you are still lowest with 31 and now Robinson is the runaway leader with 46... that's a spread of 15 now. Is the gap between rich and poor widening?"

Wilkinson : "I think we need more goes before it averages out, sir."

T : "Alright. Go up to 50 throws then..."

T : "Albany, what do you think now?"

Albany : "Er. Well, Jones is lowest, sir, with 166 and Robinson is still highest with 194."

T : "And the difference?"

Albany : "28 sir."

T : "So a wider gap than ever?"

Albany : "I suppose so sir."

T : "You sound disappointed. Were you hoping the scores would be the same after more throws?"

Albany : "Yes sir, I was..."

T : "Alright, lets try going up to 100 throws then. Off you go..."

T : "Happy now Albany? You have the most."

Albany : "Not really, sir."

T : "Ah, poor Wilkinson, formely a high earner has now fallen on hard times and has a mere 340... 27 less than money-bags Albany."

Albany : "I suppose the gap is a bit smaller, sir."

T : "Indeed. Shall we see if it drops further? Another 100 rolls, I think."

all : groan

T : "Franks, how did you fair?"

Franks : "Badly sir: lowest on 667 and Jones is highest with 742! That's... 75 more."

T : "So the gap grows again. Any other comments?"

Albany : "The leader jumps about too, sir."

T : "Yes, good point. Let's look at the rankings at each point in our test..."

T : "So both Albany and Jones went from being bottom of the pile to top of the tree. Is that fair then? Does everyone get their time in the sun?"

Franks : "I didn't sir. I started in the middle and sank toward the bottom."

T : "Indeed. And Robinson was always in the top 2. I noticed you keeping quiet there, boy."

Robinson : "Yes, sir."

T : "So, is this fair? Everyone has the same opportunity and yet the difference between the richest and the poorest grows ever larger; and over many turns some have changes of fortune whilst others remain firmly entrenched."

Albany : "I think, sir, maybe random opportunity isn't quite fair."

T : "Ah. So what might be fairer?"

Albany : "Maybe if hard work were to improve our odds of success, sir?"

T : "Oh. So the opportunity to get ahead of the other fellow, by virtue of our own efforts."

Albany : "Yes, sir."

T : "Right. This time you will each wear two hats: under one you will work 9 hours a day, by throwing your dice 9 times, and with your other, lazier, hat you will throw only 8 times a day. Off you go for day 1."

T : "Hughes?"

Hughes : "I had the best day sir: best in both groups."

T : "Observations Albany?"

Albany : "Er, both my workers did the same sir. And Hughes's lazy worker made more than 6 of the hard workers!"

T : "Let us press on and complete a working week shall we?"

T : "So, 5 days worked. What do we have now Albany?"

Albany : "Um, Carstairs has the highest and the lowest sir."

T : "And I see that Jones's lazy worker is richer than 3 hard workers. Another week."

T : "Stokes are you awake? What think you?"

Stokes : "Er, sir, 3 hard workers still do worse than the best lazy one."

T : "And one the same. Very well, another two weeks and we have almost a month."

T : "Stokes?"

Stokes : "Still one hard worker behind, sir, and two the same."

T : "Another 4 weeks? Yes."

all : groan

T : "Albany?"

Albany : "Now all the hard workers have more than the best lazy worker sir."

T : "A trend we were all expecting?"

Albany : "Yes, sir."

T : "Indeed. Hard work seems to pay off... eventually."

all : silence

T : "So, Albany, is this fair?"

Albany : "Yes sir."

T : "Because, by generating more opportunities for oneself, one can eventually get ahead?"

Albany : "Yes sir."

T : "And yet, I quote, 'the girls had more opportunities than the boys'."

all : silence

T : "The dice are fair, but unjust."