Why We Should Literally Abolish The Word Justice
Posted: July 21, 2009 at 8:24 pm | Tags: ethics, justice, law, morality, philosophyOk, so I realize, abolishing a word doesn’t really make sense, or at least would be impossible to enforce.
But I hypothesize that if we could stop using this one word as a society, the world quickly would become a much better place. To me it seems so much of the worlds problems would at least be simplified, and perhaps even completely avoided, if we used a different word that justice each time we would be tempted to use the word. I am here to argue that the word justice should simply be blacklisted; unless, I suppose, when we want to talk about the bullshit of a legal system.
When I see phrases like “in the name of justice” or “for liberty and justice for all”, or even simply most instances of the word “justify”, I internally interpret the word justice differently than most people. To me, justice is that very specific type of bullshit that is a used as a tool to justify violence and human exploitation.
To those who are perplexed by my admittedly outrageous claim, simply take a step back. If you literally make the crude swap of every instances of the word justice with the word “exploitation” the world disturbingly all of a sudden makes sense, and it becomes apparent why there is so much disequilibrium and war in our world today. The problem is justice is or has become simply a bunk word, as it is so personally defined by each individual independently.
Really we only need to look at the dictionary to find where the problem is; so first, lets look what a dictionary says about this word. Lets look to the dictionary definition of this word first, if for no other reason than perhaps we can find the problem in the definition alone, and won’t even need to look at how it is used in practice. ( Definition taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/justice)
Pronunciation: \ˈjəs-təs\
1 a : the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments b : judge c : the administration of law; especially : the establishment or determination of rights according to the rules of law or equity
2 a : the quality of being just, impartial, or fair b (1) : the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action (2) : conformity to this principle or ideal : righteousness c : the quality of conforming to law
3 : conformity to truth, fact, or reason : correctness
This is a lengthy definition, wow. But the thing that I note, is that it uses the word just in two of the definitions, so we are going to need to look up that next.
However the third definition is something to think critically about. Conformity to truth, fact or reason and being synonymous with “correctness”. This third explanation doesn’t seem to me to mean anything. This is because, at least for some people, it is true that it is a fact that they have reasoned that it is correct to commit morbid atrocities; such as Hitlers eugenics movement, or a southern slave owner who sincerely believed that blacks were such animals that owning them as slaves was doing them a favor. Or, you could see this same definition being “technically fulfilled” by the religious throughout all of history, such as in the crusades and suicide bombings. It is mind-blowing, but we need to keep in mind that for some people, it is both logical and correct to murder children because they are damned souls anyway and the suicide-bomber will receive seventy-two virgins or eternal heaven waiting for them after they murder these heathens.
The way the third part of the definition is set up, all you need to do is believe some sort of ridiculous nonsense (as much of humanity does), and suddenly even murder or slavery can be called justice.
Perhaps in the word just though, there is some sort of usable definition, one free from crazy archaic thinking. Merriam-Webster is so universally accepted, I am going to stick with them for this definition as well.
1 a : having a basis in or conforming to fact or reason : reasonable <a just but not a generous decision> b archaic : faithful to an original c : conforming to a standard of correctness : proper <just proportions>
2 a (1) : acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good : righteous <a just war> (2) : being what is merited : deserved <a just punishment> b : legally correct : lawful
As apparent every time a family is literally ripped apart when a loving mother or father imprisoned, marked a felon and stripped of equal rights, and then isolated from their children OVER GROWING MARIJUANA, a harmless plant; the law is not always a fair or good thing, and can be even be both insane and evil.
Besides bringing legality into it, the word just it is still drawing on arbitrarily and individually defined words like “correct” and “good”. Remember, it could be argued that it is correct and good to own slaves, because the bible directly permits it in in Leviticus 25:44-46 , and my favorite; Exodus 21:20: “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: You may buy your male and female slaves from the nations that are round about you … You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession forever.” So remember, its only unjust if you beat your slaves with a rod and they die sometime that isn’t between 24 and 72 hours after you whoop em! I think the trick to justice in this case is to cause sever internal bleeding and hope they die right when you need them to. Although, I am unsure what to do if they need to be re-beaten, does the clock start over? I have regressed, the point I am trying to make is that by literal denotation and connotation of the word, any nut-job can proclaim anything to be just and justice, as evident by the rampant corporate greed running a muck today and by religious zealots doing whatever they want in the name of their imaginary friend.
When people say the word justice, they REALLY seem to mean to be using a different word; such as equality, balance, fairness, revenge, karma, harmony, or any of the other words referring to shift back to a state of equilibrium or sustainability. I first wrote the bulk of my philosophical endeavors on this idea because I am able to see a harmonious future for mankind, and justice refers to “that nonsensical bullshit” of the past. Similar to how many of us feel about the words like slavery, rape, or genocide today, we should just blacklist this word and use a more specific word for talking about fairness, or retribution, ect.
To me it seems all about when to favor merit, such as property rewarded due to inheritance, when to favor need, such as property rewarded out of necessity, and when to favor effort, such as property rewarded due to a result of work.
How do we even begin to decide the best way to decide the best way to begin?
It seems to me that as long as we still need to argue what is or is not justice, that we will never reach the peace that we all want so badly. Not until we realize that it feels good to work hard, and feels good to do good for others, will we stop the wars and fighting. Seeking justice instead of fairness may be the root problem of all problems, so please help me stop evil committed in the name of justice; doing your part could be as simple as choosing to use a different word.
The Discussion
see what everyone is saying
I didn’t understand the concluding part of your article, could you please explain it more?
How you find ideas for articles, I am always lack of new ideas for articles. Some tips would be great