Justice

Define it if we must, but in my mind, justice is doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. Pretty simple.  

Where it isn’t simple is when we are reminded that people view things differently and their sense of right bends toward wrong; and we do nothing about it; we attempt maybe to accommodate it to save the other person from feeling too badly about their being in an embarrassing position, that their wrong will reflect poorly on them. We try to save them? We try to moderate their feelings? 

Hmm. Kind of nice that we try to help out here; but what we are really doing is not standing up for justice: fairness is easy to see and feel. If it doesn’t fit well, then we have a good alarm bell that it isn’t fair. And what isn’t fair is not justice. 

So, let’s do a little discerning; what is not fair?

• Neighborhood watch programs with armed volunteers; playing with fire there!
• Making laws for everyone else solely based on your religious beliefs and values; abortion, contraceptive use, family planning, etc.
• Unequal pay for equal work (effort and value); women’s salaries and wages continue to be 80% of men for equal work
• Marriage access for heterosexuals; vast inequality of access for homosexuals; and these based on religious beliefs
• Access to education to match the talents of the student with the needs of the nation and its economy; the wealthy continue to have access to all education channels; the poor do not; perhaps to meet national needs we should provide free education past high school, perhaps the equivalent of the first two years of vocational or community college?
• Tax laws favor those people who are wealthy and penalize those who are not
• Tax laws favor corporations who also are heavy users of taxpayer paid infrastructure
• Corporations who are exempt from election laws because the Supreme Court has ruled they are ‘people’ under the law; then they lobby legislation and fund elections to gain supporters in state houses and congress to pass laws favorable to them and their profitability
• Laws which provide subsidy to the drug companies, hospitals and health insurance companies who then, with their wealth, lobby congress and fund elections to further their self serving agenda
• Laws which provide subsidies for oil companies, already the richest entities on earth while not requiring them to clean up their own soil, air and water pollution, or research alternative energy sources to replace the finite reserve of oil on the planet
• Financial services industry which continues to seek more deregulation while they have already proven they can’t handle the responsibility already granted them; witness the debacle of the mortgage industry collapse, and the investment companies handling of collateralized mortgage investments spread throughout the world so the global economy was sent reeling
• Rewarding greed and not saving or personal investment
• Failure to invest in research of future energy and transportation modalities so we avoid the eventual loss of petroleum and its consequent rising cost to consumers
• Hawking free markets while doing everything to remove the risks through legislation and safeguards funded by taxpayers

There is much more we could place on this list. You know that. But have I made a dent in the injustices yet? Enough of a dent to inform us that much needs to be done to even the scales?  

If not, what more should be added to the list? Please share your thoughts with this blog on that question. 

And then let us resolve to figure out what we do about this list. And with what resources. And with whom involved? And with what vigor? 

So much to do. So much need. So much to fix. Why are those charged with these responsibilities not doing their jobs?  

Elections are this fall. Plan now to voice your opinion. It is a major strength of our America. 

March 30, 2012