so·cial jus·tice
noun
1.
justice in terms of
the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.
The word
that catches my curiosity most is, “opportunities.” Initially, it sounds nice and just to share
everything, to have no one person or people better-off than another. Why should anyone? After all, we are all part of this world, this
place that was here long before any one of us were here. But, is this viable? Did anything or person take opportunities
away? To me, it makes sense that all of
us, as citizens of Planet Earth had the opportunities, and some of us chose not
to. In other words, not everyone wants
to live up to an opportunity or possibility.
Social
justice exists when “all people share a common
humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for their
human rights, and a fair allocation of community resources.” And, “equal opportunity" and similar
phrases such as "personal responsibility" have been used to diminish
the prospective for realizing social justice by justifying enormous
inequalities in modern society.”
In other words, if a responsibility or opportunity is to be met, the
only issue is not that it is there or offered to all equally, but that people
must use that opportunity. This is where
I ask the question—do people really want equality? Change is not a passive thing, change won’t
knock on one’s door one day and announce its presence—it must be worked
for. I am also saying that if someone tries
to ignore change, it will happen. It’s like teeth—the teeth will rot out—some change
will come whether one likes it or not. (1)
There is the idea that some inequalities
are unjust and simply not fair to those who they are imposed upon (which opens
up a whole new batch of discussions) and should be lifted off of them. If a society lifts burdens off of people,
does this not create a whole new version of social equality? Does it ever end? If not, is the answer to the endless cycle of
social “equality” actually to do nothing?
It just does not feel fair.
(1)
http://gjs.appstate.edu/social-justice-and-human-rights/what-social-justice
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