Is there a saying or proverb for a situation where the weakest party will always lose?
Context - One might use it in the following situations:
"An employee has an argument with her boss and a dispute follows." (she gets fired a few weeks later)
"A student having an argument with his teacher over his grades takes the problem to the headmaster." (the headmaster doesn't want to get into it and says the teacher is right)
- "Workers go on strike for a week, get no raise and are considered absent from work."
You can say it to your son/daughter as a prediction: “Be careful mate, remember…(the saying)…
And you can also say it when he/she comes to you for comfort and support: “I told you, mate, they say that........(the saying).
Solution 1:
The house always wins
is a proverb that comes out of gambling, where the house, the people running the gambling establishment, are setting up the rules so that they themselves are favored.
Solution 2:
There's an English proverb that seems to cover this situation (ironically or otherwise), namely:
Might is right
which also exists as
Might makes right
The explanation plus example at thefreedictionary.com reads as follows:
The belief that you can do what you want because you are the most powerful person or country:
To allow this invasion to happen will give a signal to every petty dictator that might is right.
Solution 3:
One popular⁷ saying for this is
If a stone falls on an egg, alas for the egg.
If an egg falls on a stone, alas for the egg.
According to various sources, it is of Arab origin; of Chinese origin; of Cypriot Greek origin; et al. (1,2,3,4,5,6).
Part of the lyrics for a song about this appear on a mudcat.org webpage. The chorus:
If a rock falls on an egg,
Too bad, too bad for the egg
If an egg falls on a rock
Too bad for the egg.
⁷ I should, perhaps, add the qualifier “among those who specialize in sayings or proverbs about situations where the weakest party always loses” after the word “Popular”. Numerous comment votes below suggest it isn't well-known in general.