Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Social Justice

WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE?  If anything, it is an abstract, vague, and ultimately, meaningless term.  How can two abstract words like social and justice be linked together in any coherently objective way?  They can not... "social justice" means whatever any particular individual says it means, since it is an idea in someone's imagination of how the world should be. Who decides what is "socially" just or not?

 Is it just that one man owns a  car, and another doesn't? I might decide that because I'm poor and can't even afford a bicycle to get to my minimum wage job, it is unjust that someone else drives a car to work. Now the question becomes, how am I to collect on my claim of injustice? Who will provide me with a car , since it is "unjust" that I have to walk while others can ride in comfort? Should I walk up to any car owner I see and demand that he or she supply me with a car, since that would be the just thing to do? Or should I apply to the government to redress this alleged injustice?

Precisely. In theory, the government would make sure that those who have stuff give it away to those who want it-this is how such governments start out, all filled with idealistic dreams of an egalitarian society. But as it always turns out, those who work for the government and make such decisions keep nearly all of the stuff for themselves. Period.

And then, when the people who have stuff watch what they have dwindle, they soon realize that they'll be applying to the  government for food and basic necessities, just like everyone else. Therefore, these people either flee (so they can keep their stuff), or simply stop making or acquiring more stuff, and hide what they do have. In other words, this egalitarian society eventually runs out of everything, because no one is making anything anymore. All the incentives to produce have been taken away.

 Perhaps you think social justice doesn't mean just an "impartial share of the benefits of society". Perhaps you are thinking along the lines of ending racism, sexism, homophobia, et al. Now that is at least theoretically possible, if we can get a hold of kids at a young age and make sure they don't succumb to the psychological and intellectual vices that leads to such ills. But how are we going to do that, exactly? Take kids from their parents at an early age and train them in government run schools (wait, wait, we already do that). At any rate, isn't this all a matter of personal decision, and in some cases a function of intelligence? How are you going to stop a stupid man from becoming a racist, aside from putting the fear of jail in him? (and that doesn't always work). There will always be poor people, and there always will be stupid people who refuse to be rational. In other words, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, et al, will always be around, and it is futile to use the power of government to try to stop it.

When a Leftist begins to see that human beings are flawed-or, to put it another way, human beings do not have the ability to live in a perfect world unless we resort to genocide to get rid of the malcontents and recalcitrants (read: untermenschen, undesirables, scum of the earth, conservatives, et al), then maybe he'll settle down and actually contribute something meaningful to his precious collective. In the meantime, the rest of us have to put up with the ceaseless attempts to "make a difference", "change the world", and "make the world a better place". Please. Make yourself better. Teach your children to make themselves better. Just leave us alone!

If you are still confused, "social justice" means "the Leftist agenda", which ultimately means: death.