Economic justice gives all people equal opportunities to seek to life a justified and fair life. Big corporations and wealthy individuals shift the balance of power in the economic sense. As a result, few people with large amounts of money control our institutions within society. How does this affect ecological and environmental policies and justice? Well, any economic development in our society is based on economic and social policy. Large corporations and individuals who have (hard) economic power are more likely to use this power to obtain what they want. An example of this would be the halibut example given by Kai in class. When local fisheries and communities are facing economic stress, licenses to fishing are transferred from these struggling communities to those who have the wealth to monopolize industries.
Of course, these things wouldn’t happen if every individual had the same economic output and potential. Additionally, the balance of economic power shifts slowly, and the process of wealth transfer is not always just or fair. In the end, it is always up to the government to administer such policies. Big policies such as UBI, environmental policies, and anti-monopolistic anti-trust laws are to be administered by the government. If we are to move to an equal, more just and fair society, economic justice serves as one front that affects both individuals and the environment.
Kai also mentioned about the sphere of influence. Economic justice in a sense cannot be accomplished by individuals or communities. We need people in all levels of government to be honest and transparent about their roles and responsibilities, especially if they are highly impactful to their citizens. If current politicians are unable or unwilling to create changes, this means that we (students --> future leaders) are responsible for making these changes.
Before partaking in this course I never truly knew why capitalism was bad. Now I also see the sad truth of power being so closely linked to money, and that big companies can influence governments and make marginalized communities suffer. If only we didn't have money-driven incentives, maybe everyone would be able to live a more content and fair life.
Hi Kevin, thank you for this interesting post! I like how you talk about your visions for distributional justice in the context of economics with examples from the Billionaires Explained documentary and the halibut example from class. A question that I have is: how do we move toward people at all levels of government, to be honest, and transparent about their roles and responsibilities?
I thought it was great how you highlighted the importance of transparency, and how you tied inequality and environmental issues together. Even economies with the best social safety nets would greatly benefit from policies that redistribute wealth.