The Good and Just Life

The Good and Just Life

Being “just”, by the dictionary definition, is being consistent with what is morally right; and righteous. But “morally right” and “righteous” are subjective terms, therefore differing from one person to the next. So a “just” society is “just” to that person itself, although it might be in line with a larger school of thought.

My view of a just society would fit in with most other people, maybe because of the way or time I was brought up in. To me, the most important thing of a just society would probably be the social aspect of it. The way people treat each other must be based on good. Since good is such an abstract term, the best comparison would be to that of the golden rule. “Treat others the same way that you would want to be treated”. Members in a just society must treat each other with dignity and respect. They must be fair and considered to every other person in that society. In that way alone can a society function without conflict and tension. Disputes would be handled with respect of the other person’s position, without selfish needs clouding and impairing one’s judgment. A socially just society would be devoid of racism, bigotry, prejudice, or hate for fellow human beings.

If a society is socially just, that will spill over to other areas, such as the political arena. In today’s world, politics is filled with lies, corruption, and deceit, with only a few holding the values of a just society. Since politics can shape a society, being politically just is crucial. Politics must be free of personal agendas for power and money, like most politicians have today. The people we elect to run our society must have “just” values instilled in them as their foundation to their office. Such values would include the justice, compassion, equality, selflessness, and a commitment to serve his/her fellow people. When this has been obtained, the effect will resonate not only through the government, but to the people and the society as a whole.

Since politics, are in essence, the government, it also affects the economy. What would be a “just” economic society? Would everybody be rich? Would everybody be in the same income bracket? Or maybe there would me no money at all? To me, like the saying goes, money is the root of all evil, but this “evil” cannot be lived without in today’s world. Since that’s the case, a just economic society would be, in a word, fair. I believe that money would not be the foremost goal to achieve like in the world today, but be used as a tool to better oneself and society too. An economically just society would have no homeless or poor people. But, at the same token, I don’t believe that everybody would be in the same financial class. I believe, like today, that people who work harder would have more money.

But there are so many other variables to consider, like less opportunity for minorities, athletes being paid more for doing less, and people who just plain don’t deserve the money they have. So it would be very hard to achieve this in a “just” economic society. But one thing I firmly believe is that, money cannot be the utmost priority and come before helping people in need in a “just” economic society.

The concept of “just” is not only about the society, but about yourself. To me, being good consists of many different things. I would like to leave this world knowing that I have made some impact of good in the world. I hope to exhibit good to my fellow man my whole life, to all people, no matter of class, color, or sexual preference. One thing that I would like to achieve is the image of a good person when I pass. I want people’s description of me to include “he was a good man”. I want to be known as a person who actually made an impact. I would also like to fulfill a philanthropist property in my life. When I get older, and financially stable, I would like to be able to contribute to the community and to the greater good using financial donations.

Even though I would love to do good, I truly believe that I could not be entirely selfless. I know that I am a very materialistic person, and I know that would effect my decisions in the future. I would love to achieve the generic “American Dream”, consisting of a nice home, nice car, family, etc. These things have become vital to me now, and it would be hard for me to sacrifice in the future because of this.

The “goods” that I want to achieve are in much conflict with each other. I know that when I grow and mature, I will be in constant struggle with these needs. It will be a constant tug-of-war between my needs and my goals. I would want to be good, and a philanthropist, but I would be conflicted with needs to have a nice house and a nice car. I don’t know what I would choose, a great house or being charitable, when push comes to shove.

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