Dear Friends,
It seems to me, a simple working definition of justice, is to treat everyone equally, but a more nuanced definition is, to equally treat people as they deserve to be treated. Just as you would not trust a thief to watch your home, or a child molester to watch your child, most anyone would trust a saint to watch either. It is not that they are treated differently, but they are treated as they deserve, should the saint become a thief or a child molester, our treatment of them would change to reflect what they deserve. Justice demands all people be treated as they merit, equally and without discrimination. In the end, the person who is a villain should be treated as a villain, and the saint should be treated as a saint. Sadly, in this world those who are powerful are always held to the lowest standard of conduct, no matter what their actions merit, while those of low station are always held to the highest standard of conduct, regardless of their virtuous actions, due to their ability to damage or help us. This is a violation of justice. The way justice determines merit, is by our actions, not our station, race or religion.
We live in a time where justice is unknown. The news is full of examples where villains are praised and heroes are attacked… injustice is called justice. When a thug with a long history of violence threatens a police officer with a gun, and is shot by that police officer, popular culture credits the thug with every virtue known to man, while the police officer is vilified, leading to other thugs rioting, destroying property, stealing and worst of all, attacking innocent people simply because of their race. Instead of justice, where those thugs would be rounded up, tried and if found guilty, serve long jail sentences, they are given a pass, ostensibly because of their race, but in reality because the violence forwards the agenda of the political faction in power.
Who can claim it just, that a politician is caught red handed destroying evidence that implicates her in allowing top secret material to fall into the hands of our enemies, walks free, even as lowly navy personnel are charged and jailed for far far less? Moreover, it would appear that US secrets are known by everyone, including our mortal enemies… but not the people. If people are treated as they merit, by their actions, not by their political affiliation or power, we would see many politicians going to jail and few junior officers languishing in Leavenworth. Justice does not brooch unequal treatment and is not based on political standing, it is based on merit, for good or bad.
How can anyone look at you with a straight face and say the non punishment meted out to the CEO of Wells Fargo is just? We all know that the culture of any group, organization or company comes from the top. People go where leaders lead. If the culture of Wells Fargo was such that lowly employees were opening millions of fraudulent accounts, to pad the profits of the company, that culture came from the top. Add to that, over five thousand employees were fired for it, yet not one has been prosecuted despite the serious nature of the crime, and a blind man can see the injustice. Those who are punished are the shareholders of Wells Fargo, who had no hand in the crime but are paying the price, in a diminishment of their stock values, stocks they paid for with hard earned money and rely on for their retirement. The other people punished are the customers who were harmed, while the government gets a windfall, and the employees who have done no wrong but who’s careers are jeopardized by the culture of Wells Fargo.
People have an innate justice meter, we know when an injustice is done, and we react accordingly. If our ability to act is hemmed in by government power, if in fact, that injustice is promoted by government…then we loose faith in the system, our stake in society is eroded and we will act unjustly ourselves, anytime we believe we can get away with it. Naked injustice then is the means for a society to fall into chaos, violence and poverty. The facts are clear and they stare us in the face. Everywhere we look there is violence, on our streets, in our schools and at our places of business. Poverty is on the rise like never before since the industrial revolution, while the elite profit from their crimes. The world our forefathers have built and we have been blessed with, is crumbling around our heads and ears, all because, as we know in our hearts… people are not treated as they deserve.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
