ABSTRACT
This concept accords with our everyday speech. We say that the laborer deserves his wages, that as a person sows, so should he reap. We say, “one good deed deserves another,” signifying that the principle of reciprocity is really one of responsibility for repaying favors. Most of us hold that equal work deserves equal pay, regardless of the race or gender of the worker. We ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” So we are distressed when an innocent child is sexually abused or a hard-working parent is struck down by a criminal’s bullet. We are revolted when evil is returned for good, believing that the benefactor deserved better. We believe that the best qualified candidate deserves the job. We believe that the virtuous deserve to be happy and the evil people deserve to be punished and unhappy. We believe that criminals and traitors deserve censure and punishment for their heinous deeds, in proportion to the gravity of their crimes. Hence, Timothy McVeigh, the man responsible for the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City which killed 168 people, deserves severe punishment, possibly the death penalty, which he received. We say that the victims of the terrible terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001,
didn’t deserve such an evil attack and that their families deserve compensation from the sources that supported the al Qaeda terrorist network. We believe excellence deserves rewards. So we think that Barry Bonds deserved to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award for the sixth time in 2003, since his hitting record was phenomenal. We believe that heroes deserve rewards and cruel people deserve sanctions. Most people believe that someone who does not forgive others their failings does not deserve forgiveness for his or her failings. We think that injured parties sometimes deserve compensation for injuries done to them by physicians or businessmen through malpractice. Virtually every day we see examples of the important role desert plays in our lives.
