T-minus 24 hours until you are born. A genie grants you the power to design the world in which you will live. You will create the social structure, economic system and political setup for all of humankind.
Democrat, Republican, independent, apathetic or libertarian, you probably have a pretty good idea of the way you want things: rich, free and happy (for you at least).
You are all-powerful, divine and godly. You make all the rules - with one exception.
After you make your world, you must draw a ticket out of a barrel at random. The ticket assigns you an identity: mentally challenged or bright, rich or poor, black or white, crippled or able-bodied, etc. There are 6,602,224,175 tickets, and counting.
Whether you will be born to impoverished, abusive parents in Ethiopia or to financially secure, nurturing parents in the United States is entirely random. Keep in mind that you have a less than 5-percent chance of being born in the United States - and a less than 3-percent chance of being born into an American family that feels "fairly" financially secure, according to the International Herald Tribune.
Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the third-richest man in the world according to Forbes - and known affectionately by his followers as the "Oracle of Omaha" - termed this scenario the "Ovarian Lottery." It's his spin on American philosopher John Rawls's view of social justice.
Buffett conducts this exercise with groups of students he lectures and shareholders who attend Berkshire Hathaway's annual meetings. Through this game of "pretend," he hopes to help participants not only rethink their attitude on the obligations of the wealthy to society, but also shift their perspectives on their own lives.
Our perceptions of our problems and triumphs are relative to our present circumstances. Among college students, a failing test grade might seem tragic to one person, but only slightly disappointing to someone who has recently dealt with grief over the death of a family member. And a breakup might not seem so devastating to someone who is worried about finding his or her next meal.
O'Brien is a Plan II sophomore.
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