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What does Justice look like?
Last night, Michelle told us about Barack's time as an organizer, and related a bit of what he said to people in communities that had been affected by plant closing:
<blockquote>He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be."
And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two,
and settle for the world as it is - even when it doesn't reflect our
values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world
should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity
look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves - to find the
strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And
isn't that the great American story?</blockquote>
Justice is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but it genuinely concerns me. I went to law school partially in an attempt to learn about justice, and I didn't find it. I still think out legal system is profoundly unjust in a lot of ways, but I always have trouble describing exactly what is unjust about our system.
So, for you, what does justice look like? What, specifically, about our country would you change in order to make it just?
Comments (4)
I think access to education and healthcare are the two biggest ways to create a just society, but if forced to choose, I would choose education, because through that a person can elevate himself mentally and economically if he chooses.
August 26, 2008 8:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's a good start. In some ways, I often wonder how good is good enough? We have ideals of justice, such as access to education, but how much deviation can we accept from the ideal? That's another question that I don't yet have an answer too.
August 26, 2008 9:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's interesting to me that education in and of itself is not the answer, even though I espouse it. I think education has to be FOR something, either the chance at a better life economically or to inform your passions idealogically. Two plus two can be a hell of a lot bigger than four if you're using your education to elevate yourself and others.
August 26, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Justice requires generous opportunities for redress.
Judges that limit standing, laws that set up barriers to suits, prevent justice.
Circumstances that limit freedom of action, like poverty, need compensating assistance.
Justice is the fancy word for "fair", which is a deeply genetic need in primates. Consider how often we hear it from children---"it's not fair!". Monkeys have been shown to notice, and chimps most definitely.
So I simply ask what is the most fair result. I would say it is fairly typical of liberals to look for the answer to that, but for conservatives to feel "why should I care?" They may talk about fairness, but someitmes the door opens a crack and we hear "I'm not going to pay for someone else to compete with me" and similar.
So the challenge is to find the fairness that is also most beneficial to the selfish.
August 26, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
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