I found this week's quotation, by the 20th century American political philosopher, John Rawls, somewhat opaque. It read, "Every person possesses an inviolability founded on justice, that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override."
So I decided to google it, to see whether it was part of a longer, clearer quote. And it was. It continues, "For this reason, justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled."
Which has left me wondering about whether there actually is a "just society", anywhere in the world... Certainly not in the UK, where rich companies and people manage to evade paying little if any tax at all, while the "cost of living crisis" continues to grind the poorer sections of society down. Far too many people will not be having a very "Merry Christmas" this year - the food banks have never been so busy, and many folk will not be able to afford to heat their homes adequately (or indeed at all) during the cold winter months.
Where is the justice in that? We must continue to campaign for a more equal distribution of resources, for the closing of tax loopholes which enable the very rich to get even richer, and to do what we can, where we are, to help those who, for no fault of their own, have fallen through the cracks.
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