is Justice Fair?

I don't have a clear definition of fairness, but justice does not always fit with what I regard as fair. For example, I don't think it is fair to discriminate against people on the basis of their race or on any other irrational basis, but I believe we have the right to do it.

The non-aggression principle permits many inhumane, cowardly, perverted, and unfair acts. For example, it is inhumane and cowardly to see a person in distress, a drowning child for example, and do nothing to save him. But it is not a crime. No one has the right to force you to be a hero.

Aborting her baby is possibly the worst thing that a woman has a right to do. But, even though an innocent human life is taken, no one has the right to use violence to prevent a woman from ridding her body of a human parasite, even if we assume the fetus has all the rights of an adult. Abortion is just, but it certainly is not fair to the unborn child.

It isn't fair that some children in disease-ridden, third-world countries, or crime-ridden ghettos in American cities have little hope for prosperity. But these inequities do not justify redistribution of wealth by the state.

Except for abortion, these examples of differences between justice and fairness are not controversial in libertarian circles. But my version of self-defense libertarianism has more differences between justice and fairness than most other libertarian theories.