The facets of injustice manifest in the three dimensions; recognition, procedural, and distribution. The most obvious of the three is the distribution of resources away from marginalized communities. The inequity present allows for the brunt of the negative impacts to be felt locally, and ignored on a grander scale. In the media, “Billionaires, Explained”, it was revealed that wealth was not being distributed but rather hoarded. In an ideal world, the structures that allow for this would not exist. For example, the most wealthy people would not be allowed to funnel capital funds into international accounts to avoid paying taxes.
In this world, being poor is expensive. You pay for distributional equities with blood and health. Does my ideal, just world require every individual to be just? Fair distribution will not require everyone to be morally magnificent all the time. It will not depend on its citizens being selfless, generous souls. This is because the mechanisms to achieve a successful socialist society will be built into social institutions themselves. Take the idea of a self-governing cooperative - the key productive unit of an environmentally just future. My values would manifest as a cooperative, profit-sharing, egalitarian, commonly governed nature of the unit. It won’t rely in the first place on the goodwill of individuals, just as the current climate is not the fault of any individual. The conclusion I have reached about the different dimensions of injustice, is that there is a lack of connection between the impacted and the malefactor. The hierarchy of communication has diluted the voices of the BIPOC people on the spatial and monetary fringes of society.
I think a large contribution to the reasons that the voices of the BIPOC people have been largely neglected or diluted as you put it is not only due to the hierarchy of communication, but the blatant lack of regard for these voices. It has long been so easy to suppress or overlook their voices without facing any consequences. Our actions still perpetuate this notion that their voices are not of prudent concern and do not need to be at the forefront of decisions that directly impact their well-being and livelihood. Actions speak louder than words, and we still fall so easily back into the cracks of showing neglect to these people that are burdened with direct implications of our actions. The laden disrespect speaks volumes, and there needs to be direct implementation of measures to mitigate these occurrences in the future.
Amazing point, many indigenous peoples do not have access to stable food sources either because their natural food resource has been damaged, they no longer have the knowledge to access a resource because of colonialism, or simply because it is not economically viable to create grocery stores on some smaller reserves. In this case, Indigenous people are forced to rely on colonial goods outside of their reserve, meaning money is being spent outside of the community. I live in an area like this, the only place that sells food is a gas station and a Tim Hortons.
This line really hit: "The conclusion I have reached about the different dimensions of injustice, is that there is a lack of connection between the impacted and the malefactor".
We might not be intentionally harming those around us but by creating certain systems, damage is being done. It's now become a matter of taking responsibility for our actions and building from there, with the impacted people's needs in mind.
Another thing "Billionaires, Explained" revealed was how easily the extremely wealthy can shield their wealth from taxation. I really appreciate your noting how the goodwill of the individual cannot be relied upon, and how the systems that produced incredible wealth and inequality need to be changed.
It has to be said that most power imbalances are a product of history, such as colonialism and wealth accumulation, and that the abuse of power is the root cause of injustice.
Yes. I also think we need to remember that usually the ones who are able to share their voice and vision are privileged to do that and it is not the case for everyone.
Yep, it is pretty disheartening that the most disadvantaged in our community are usually the ones that have their voices heard the least.
Great post! I love how you expanded on the ideas in "Billionaires, Explained" and connected them to the material we talked about today.