Three Schelling points

I will argue for valuing three Schelling points: equality, fairness, and freedom. I will not attempt to define them – they are complex and undefinable.

We live in an unequal, hierarchical society – our introduction to the social world involves unequal relationships with parents, teachers, and bosses. These relationships often have the trappings of equality – such as parents who give kids “choices” – yet fundamentally, the parent is still in control.

Yet in other contexts, fairness is more about equality. My concern is that we are out of practice with equal relationships. We are very good at understanding fairness when it’s fair to follow orders, but less good at it when it’s fair to share power. This biases us toward hierarchical forms of fairness – even where they’re not appropriate.

The central assumptions of this site are:

That equality is a useful Schelling point or simple rule for managing large-scale societies
That humans also want freedom to associate or not to associate without being controlled by external powers, and this was more important for social capital in the period 1760-1960.
These three – equality, fairness, and freedom – are important Schelling points (simple social agreements) for managing association in a large-scale society.
That “equality” should include shared power (one person one vote) – without which other forms of equality can be difficult to maintain.
That equal relationships are hard for people raised in a hierarchical society, requiring skills such as cooperation and communication.
That they are rewarding.
That they are not the only thing that’s important – if we force people to say they are equal to all others in all possible ways, it takes away some of their freedom (which is important too).

Therefore, the central recommendations are to:

Practice equality, fairness, and freedom in relationships.
Practice equality by sharing projects, communicating authentically, and listening and responding.
Do this by trying, failing, and trying again – knowing that what you’re doing is hard, yet rewarding.