Monday, April 29, 2019

The Broad Definition Of Social Justice

By Peter Allen


Many people have probably heard about concepts of socialism during their university classes or maybe political speeches. Social justice, which is a prevailing concept, is especially mentioned as a platform by a lot of socialist activists when it comes to political change and wealth distribution. To give one a better idea of this concept, here is a broad explanation of what this concept is.

As mentioned above, this concept is really all about equality and ensuring that all people have equal access to basic human rights. While the definition of human rights may differ per state or country, they basically encompass equal access to healthcare, equal opportunities for work, and equal treatment under the law. Any form of prejudice is known as social injustice and is something that the socialist movements are strongly against.

Now, this kind of socialist concept does not have any affiliation to a specific movement or party. However, it is a concept that is associated with the leftist movements specifically the Democratic party in the US or the socialist party. However, there are other socialists who do not identify or embrace the ideologies of the Democrats but rather have their own brand of socialist ideology.

Another interesting thing to take note of is that this term has also been lumped together with extremist groups like the communists since communists and even Marxists have been using this term heavily. It is true that they do advocate this form of justice, their definitions tend to be a bit more radical and differ than its definition today. Today, the concept is found in many ideologies whether it has a heavy or light influence.

Unlike the olden days, human rights movements are more widespread due to many formerly oppressed groups coming out. In a general sense, human rights equate to equality of all humans under the law of society. That means that the law has to give everyone basic human rights in a society despite their origins or ethnic group.

One very crucial example would be in the criminal justice system, especially in America. There is a high case of racism in the criminal system wherein black and Latino individuals are often given stricter and unjust treatment as compared to white men. This in itself creates bias simply because of race or ethnic group.

Another example would be that of the healthcare system. If one would follow this socialist concept, universal healthcare is supposedly a human right because it involves giving the best treatment for the overall well being of citizens. Following this concept, healthcare is not to be seen as a privilege that is only to be enjoyed by the rich because that would mean it is discrimination against certain social classes.

This concept of justice is simply the concept of equality for all the citizens in society. According to groups advocating this concept, it is the government that is supposed to follow this concept in order to create harmony for its people. It is definitely a great concept or principle to follow but difficult to implement due to the many different views that many groups have of it.




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