10. The veil of ignorance

Interesting predicament - equality vs meritocracy. It's nice that everyone gets their 'fair' share in the grand scheme of things. But then humans are greedy and lazy, naturally. So expect some people not to pull their 'fair' weight when it comes to work. So do these slackers deserve the equal amount of reward as everyone else?

Every society is made up of different kinds of people. We grow up subject to the rules and norms of the world around us. We are moulded into the productive or contributive (or the opposite) members of society. (I know this is simplifying things quite a bit as there are many, many factors that shape our lives but let's take this road before I end up with a thesis.) Wars and political manouvres have been played over the way we contribute to society. Communism came about because the farmers felt that the elite were oppressing them with taxes and secret police. The Soviets and some countries today have social systems that provide benefits to all, regardless of employment of contributive status. The 'dole' in Australia means they

In Singapore, the philosophy of meritocracy prevails. This socio-political ideology was put in place because the powers that be needed to provide equal opportunity to all races that made up the tiny island. Meritocracy meant that those that wanted to be all they could be could be all they could be. But that also means that Singaporeans couldn't afford to fail. After some years, the powers that be were enjoying a great booming economy but at the same time, there was a slice of the population that wasn't doing too good. So the government, keen on improving everyone's lives, does quite a bit to lessen the burden of the less fortunate or low-wage earners. We can't leave them behind. It's not fair distribution to one and all but it helps to even the general playing field.

So what should the Martians do? Here's what I think. Pick a leader by consensus. Get him/her to decide what needs to be done to survive. Delegate tasks and ensure they get done. Split the rewards into an 'everyone' set and 'bonus' set. Decide what over and above performance entails for the bonus rewards. Be fair and honest, distribute the 'everyone' rewards to all. Tell everyone what the 'bonus' rewards are for and get everyone to vote the people who deserved to get extra.