If you are born in today's world financially and socially disadvantaged, upward mobility is a difficult hill to climb. In many areas of this world, the United States included, opportunities for wealth and a life of ease are the prerogative of just a few. This is totally contrary to the concept of social justice, which is the idea that privilege, wealth, and opportunity should be available, equally, for everyone.
The idea of a just society was the invention of the nineteenth century. It appeared during the Industrial Revolution and the civil revolutions that occurred throughout Europe. At this time the focus was on property, the equitable distribution of wealth, and capital.
In the middle of the twentieth century the idea started to expand. Gender, nationality, race, and environmental equality were included. The concept also expanded from just a governmental responsibility to create an equal society to include personal responsibility for alleviating the unjust conditions suffered by victims all over the world.
The drawbacks to establishing a truly equal society are broken down by experts into two basic parts. One is the way individuals in mainstream society treat others based only on personal bias, prejudice, fear, and misinformation. Examples of this are people who are treated unequally because of their gender, age, race, religion, social status, education, nationality, or mental and physical disabilities.
Unjust governmental laws are the second part of the equation. These are law put in place, knowingly or unknowingly, that create conditions that limit, deny, or make it hard for some segments of the population to access opportunities freely given to other segments of the population. Examples of these are voting laws that redistrict certain areas to sway elections in favor of one party and laws that require specific types of identification in order for a person to be allowed into the polling booths.
Environmental laws, or the lack thereof, that allow industries to dispose of waste in the lakes and rivers that a community relies on for drinking water is another example of governmental injustice. There are still schools in the United States that do not comply with school segregation laws. There are certain areas of America where people of a certain race or ethnic background are more likely to be pulled over by law enforcement.
Unjust treatment by societies is divided into two categories, the direct and the indirect. Direct inequality comes about when individuals within a society deny rights and opportunities to certain individuals and not to others. An example might be the owner of a public restaurant who refuses to sit individuals in the dining area because of what that owner perceives is their sexual orientation. Direct inequality is also segregating schools and public facilities based on race.
Indirect inequality happens when governmental regulations are put in place that don't have specific language inhibiting the rights of a segment of the population, but have the effect of doing just that. Laws limiting mail in voting and voter identification are an example of this. Buying clothing that was manufactured in sweatshops supports the unsafe conditions of the laborers who work in them.
The idea of a just society was the invention of the nineteenth century. It appeared during the Industrial Revolution and the civil revolutions that occurred throughout Europe. At this time the focus was on property, the equitable distribution of wealth, and capital.
In the middle of the twentieth century the idea started to expand. Gender, nationality, race, and environmental equality were included. The concept also expanded from just a governmental responsibility to create an equal society to include personal responsibility for alleviating the unjust conditions suffered by victims all over the world.
The drawbacks to establishing a truly equal society are broken down by experts into two basic parts. One is the way individuals in mainstream society treat others based only on personal bias, prejudice, fear, and misinformation. Examples of this are people who are treated unequally because of their gender, age, race, religion, social status, education, nationality, or mental and physical disabilities.
Unjust governmental laws are the second part of the equation. These are law put in place, knowingly or unknowingly, that create conditions that limit, deny, or make it hard for some segments of the population to access opportunities freely given to other segments of the population. Examples of these are voting laws that redistrict certain areas to sway elections in favor of one party and laws that require specific types of identification in order for a person to be allowed into the polling booths.
Environmental laws, or the lack thereof, that allow industries to dispose of waste in the lakes and rivers that a community relies on for drinking water is another example of governmental injustice. There are still schools in the United States that do not comply with school segregation laws. There are certain areas of America where people of a certain race or ethnic background are more likely to be pulled over by law enforcement.
Unjust treatment by societies is divided into two categories, the direct and the indirect. Direct inequality comes about when individuals within a society deny rights and opportunities to certain individuals and not to others. An example might be the owner of a public restaurant who refuses to sit individuals in the dining area because of what that owner perceives is their sexual orientation. Direct inequality is also segregating schools and public facilities based on race.
Indirect inequality happens when governmental regulations are put in place that don't have specific language inhibiting the rights of a segment of the population, but have the effect of doing just that. Laws limiting mail in voting and voter identification are an example of this. Buying clothing that was manufactured in sweatshops supports the unsafe conditions of the laborers who work in them.
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