I agree, like democracy and justice, the concept fairness and equality are ideals you strive for, rather than an end goal to be achieved.
Again I agree, we can only try and react to what’s in front of us at any given time, and try and make decisions that improve things generally. Bottom line is that prejudices are an innate part of human evolution, and you can’t govern what people think or believe. So trying to rush through societal change, even when it is necessary to counter injustice, will meet with resistance. A lot then depends on cultural attitudes and the kind of society involved. Accommodating polarised views is a tricky thing, but some societies do seem to do better than others.
I think part of the problem is when people react to injustice and prejudice with the same kind of unjust and generic prejudice at who they perceive as guilty of it in the first instance. It doesn’t take a genius to see that prejudice and resentment are pernicious if left unchecked.
To add to the melting pot of problems of course, you then have opportunistic racism, sometimes dressed up as nationalistic patriotism.
My rule of thumb is that generic condemnations or criticisms are a bad sign, and people who do this and over simplify the situation often do so to push an agenda.
