“Justice, at its core, is the concept of fairness and impartiality in the treatment of individuals, often involving the application of moral principles, laws, or rules to ensure that people receive what they deserve.” Humbly, I will try to grind through in a few hundred words what people have tried for millennia to figure out. Pick out a few words like fairness, impartiality, moral principles and what people deserve. Tell me if we all agree. 

I am not on a personal Kamikaze mission. This whole idea of fairness splashes through dozens of news items these days. Ukraine, Bam! Weather, Socko! Trump, Gaza, Equality, DOGE, Reparations. Yikes, I could go on for days. If you don’t at least consider the concept, shame on you. 

Ideally, the rules should be the same for everyone. You play by them and you get ahead. You break them, you get punished. It is that simple. I guess you might call that a pure democracy but I think that is leaving a bit to be desired right now. 

The current discussions on Ukraine offer a glimpse of the obvious. Russia began the invasion of Ukraine in 2014 in the Crimean Peninsula. Putin, always the villain, invaded with soldiers showing no insignia or identification. Obama was at the helm and basically looked the other way. The full-scale invasion was in 2022 with Biden presiding. Putin had been professing for months that they were on training exercises while massing a huge force on the border. He is such an upstanding citizen of the world, who wouldn’t believe him ?

The Trumpster says Ukraine started it. If your jaw hasn’t dropped enough, he also says, as of press time, that Putin should get land he hasn’t even come close to capturing. By anyone’s count, the Ukrainians are suffering a pretty serious injustice on a number of fronts. Morally, geopolitically, legally, and yet they have to come, hat in hand to get assistance. This just ain’t fair or is it?

The whole law thing gets me going. Does everyone get a fair shake? Let’s say you live in a blue-collar neighborhood and your son or daughter goes out one night and gets picked up for drunk driving or vandalism, or doing drugs. Chances are, they are going to get tried and convicted in short order. Hop over to the gated side of the tracks. Either you get some hotshot lawyer to get them off, or even better, you know somebody who knows somebody, and the whole thing goes away. I forgot. That is why we haves and have nots.  

There was an article last week about a couple who bought a piece of property a couple of years back near the Bourne Bridge crossing the Cape Cod Canal. They both worked and built a house they were proud of and looked to enjoy in retirement. The only problem was that the state is going to take over the property by eminent domain and tear it down to make room for a new bridge. Legally, the state has the right to do so. Morally, shouldn’t something be done to help these people? Nobody told them, even though the realtors and townsfolk knew beforehand. 

I often wonder if there can be any justice in capitalism? The economic theory would hold that people with money want to create a capital endeavor or service. They might even pool with other monied people. They build this fantastic business that makes them even wealthier. They now have stockholders who want to see a return. We have to squeeze every last dime out, which means we have to go with a smaller employee base, boost productivity, pay them as little as possible and maybe even cut a few corners. Let’s not say whether this is right or wrong, but is it just, in the truest sense of the word? 

I have thought about the education thing. We need an education to get ahead. It cost money to go to school. There is a lot of aid but even given that, there are a lot who can’t do it without signing up for debt for a major part of their lives. The rich don’t really have those problems. Is it really an equal playing field? 

Okay, I am not espousing revolution or even playing with your minds any more than I do mine. But it really becomes a quandary. I would like to see a fair world where people get what they deserve as human beings. But just what do they deserve? We can’t all be the same financially. There have to be rewards for the daring and the ambitious, or else you have a stagnant world. What are the boundaries for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Great question. 

Life is neither fair nor unfair. Just or unjust. It is a very subjective reflection by each one of us. What is considered good or bad in your part of the world might not be so in another. There are cultures and norms that are substantially far apart. Is there any underlying tenet that we can live by?  

Do unto others is a great precept. Really concentrate on it for a minute. Am I going to blow someone’s head off if I am pretty sure they are coming back and do it to me or my loved ones? Am I going to steal from you, try to seduce your wife, or cheat you in a business deal when I know it will come around and hit me in the same way? It is neither religious nor pompous. It is simply recognizing that we are all the same. I know that won’t happen, but it isn’t something to strive for, rather than winner take all or to the victor belongs the spoils? 

Our current path does not seem to be going down this road. A lot of us are just out for ourselves. Might work for a while. Long term, you will probably get screwed just like the rest of us. On this, life doesn’t feel like playing favorites.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Justice can be distributive,legal, procedural, social, and corrective to name a few. Yikes, this is complex. 

The financial crisis of 2008 saw tens of thousands lose their homes in loan default. Not one banker or mortgage broker went to jail. 

Our current illegal immigration crisis is replete with injustice. For years, we left the gate open and looked the other way.. The farmer used them to pick crops and till his fields. Then we cut off the supply. Now those crops are unpicked only to rot. Who gets sent back? Kids were brought here at 2 and 3 years old. Are they at fault? At the same time people have been waiting on line to get in for years.  What’s fair? 

During WWII 120,000 American citizens who were of Japanese descent were relocated and sent to relocation centers that were really internment camps. 

Sometimes there is no black and white in justice. That was not a play on words. Circumstances or mores really come to bear. Justice is not always perfect. People can get burned one way or the other.