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How do we define social justice in the new millennium?
We often accept terms and phrases without analyzing their meaning. ‘Social Justice’ is one such term that I had to look at carefully. Fingering my way through the Oxford English Dictionary app on my tablet, I made an interesting connection.
Social – relating to society or its organization
Justice – just behavior or treatment, the quality of being fair and reasonable,
the administration of the law or authority in maintaining this
Social Justice, the quality of being fair and reasonable relating to society and its organization. Seems pretty simple, right?
Then why is the concept of social justice not serving society justly? We face times of poverty and mass abuses of human rights (including oppression and the large-scale commodification of human beings). These issues often get swept under the rug and collectively ignored, except when the specific rights of a special interest group are involved. In some cases things do improve, yet taken on a global level…not so much. The shear immensity of detail related to one human rights issue or social justice concern can overwhelm the effort to create sustainable positive change.
These microscopic views can get us down. The struggles we choose to fight can bear down on us with their details in a way that is ominous. When we pull our focus out and seek the common elements of human struggle, we find those useful threads, which share a color or texture or spin. By following these continuous threads we can find an underlying truth.
Social justice isn’t so much about law and legality, rights and enforcement, as it is about living sustainably in a mutually beneficial group, ‘mutual’ being the key word here. We live in precarious and exciting times. Global awakening, revolution, protest, climate change, and oppression in its myriad forms. How do we navigate through it all? Why are we all trying to find a balance and equilibrium in our chaotic reflection of urban living?
There are greedy forces at work in the world. It is true. They are bent on destroying our life support system only for profit, as well as destroying any chance at global human cooperation. Environmental rights and human rights go hand-in-hand. No good having equal rights for one and all if there is no way to live a sustainable existence on this planet. If we could remove the concept of unlimited accumulation of wealth from the social model, would we find other powerful motivating factors without the potential for oppressive destruction to life, sustainability and diversity?
We cannot fight for human concerns without fighting for our home. Earth.
The idea of a healthy ecosystem is usually tacked on as a list addition in most social justice definitions, if it occurs at all. Yet it is the central concern of all social justice issues. The balanced existence of human stewardship of our biosphere is the essential step to answer most of the basic issues of poverty, hunger, exploitation, and unequal resource distribution.
There is no social justice without environmental justice. The simple things: air, water, and food from soil. Without these things we are done, and human rights won’t really matter. There needs to be a cooperative balance between human and nature and not the current war with nature. If we treat the planet as the ultimate summation of humanity, and treat it with the proportionate respect, then we can find a better balance. Human rights and social justice could actually begin to get sorted out in a lasting way. We need to develop a society based on respect for all life instead of all out war on life in every form.
Social justice begins with the ground under your feet and grows throughout the society.
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We can debate all we want about social justice and the plight of groups who deserve equal human rights and justice. But what of the just society, a community composed of individuals who honor and respect diversity to the point that there is no special interest group because the interest of the community as a whole system, including the environment and all of its constituent elements, is always considered in every decision making process. What of the seventh generation principle, the concept of ancestral and future connections in every decision making process? Can we develop a quantum society that recognizes the resonance of past, present, and future influences that all intone the same thing? We need a much less linear way of thought than “all my actions of the present have lead from the past, and all my action of the future will stem from my present.” Can we create a quantum social network toward a truly just social organization? One based on a system where direct social justice is created by recognizing the need for balance in our lives.
Social justice is a concern of healthcare, social work, religion and opportunity, but what principles do we need to adopt in order to bring a truly just society?
Define social justice? A concept of direct social/environmental action, which fosters a community and serves all its members with fair and equal treatment. Including the open participation of all to ensure equality on a day-to-day basis.
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Looking for more? Check out these articles also by Wilhelm Cortez:
A Short History of the Eco-warrior
Could There Have Been A Third Gender In Eden?
Lead photo by Ben Sutherland/Flickr
Captain Fairplay by Magoo0311/Flickr
Two things I’ve always found helpful when it comes to what the term “social justice” is supposed to mean. First, think of social justice not as an absolute but more as a sort of variable. So rather than asking, “Is this society just or unjust?” instead ask, “how just is this society?” It’s a lot like the concept of what urban means. Rather than drawing a line between what’s urban and what’s rural, it’s a lot more helpful to think of the concept of “urbanness.” To someone who grew up in New York, Minneapolis would seem a lot less “urban”… Read more »