based on justice and equality?

In our society today, we are plagued by the constant need for uniformity and correspondence. Everywhere we go, everything we do, is under the threat of this unification, this trend of duplication and copying. The problem is, modern society is not ready for true equality. Instead, society only uses uniformity to mask equality. Uniformity is a faux excuse for the absence of equality. See, in our society, everyone is given almost absolutely the same treatment, opportunity and chance. This supposedly aids the advocation of equality in society today.  So, technically, the only thing stopping you from getting all that you want from life is yourself, given that all chances are being spread out like a layer of butter on a piece of toast we call our society. Well, after all, if we give everyone the same thing, the same chances of winning, the same shot at life then equality is essentially achieved, right?

No. Not right.

Everyone’s lives have each different circumstances, different relationships with vastly people, so how can this society be truly equal if the chances given are indeed equal? The irony of this equation is that if everyone is so different from each other, then won’t you be ‘inequalifying’ the whole population by using the same rules and same opportunities for everyone? Imagine, maybe, say an American boy, born in the Big Apple, rich parents, fertile intellectual ground for the germination and the bourgeon of his thought and mind. While contrast this happy, feel-good image with another American boy, born in the gutters of Las Vegas. He was the result of the fornication and desperation, the fruit of stained loins. He is unwanted, his single mother earns peanuts as a prostitute and his mind focuses on when his next meal is going to be instead of math, or homework. Sure, society does offer both boys paths to living successful lives (rich and famous probably. maybe not. but that’s a different issue) but the chance of the first boy succeeding is exponentially larger than the second. But, you say, both boys are able to get education. Both boys can choose to work hard or not, both boys have the choice to become great or not. But think about it, innumerable odds are stacked against the second boy as compared to the first. This difference has yet to be tackled by our ‘equality’, and the tiny, mediocre feet of uniformity will never come close to filling the colossal shoes of equality. Equality is an idea, equality is an ideal. Uniformity is a means, an action plan that can be reshaped and reformed to fit any ideology (whether good or bad), but uniformity will never achieve what true equality can and will if properly practiced.

And where equality lacks, justice’s absence is also fairly noticeable. Lady Justice brandishes her sword of judgement in her right hand, and the mighty scales on her left. Only when these scales reach a true equilibrium, will justice be carried out. Say, one side of the scales weighs the offence, while the other, the punishment. Only when judgement meted out is befitting the wrongdoing, then justice can be said to have been served. But up till now, we have no unvarnished method of finding this point of equilibrium. To find out the entire background, personality, context, motive, method, philosophy, ethics, psychology (and other important aspects) have seemed to be too taxing a task for the judiciary authority of our society. The court cannot look into every single case, and cannot question every criminal’s philosophy and perspective, for there is yet to be an accurate benchmark for one’s psychology and perspective. Sadly, this benchmark will probably never exist as it threatens the very diversity of paradigms and schools of thought with (surprise, surprise) uniformity yet again. Thus without this benchmark, and without equality of the scales, Lady Justice still has to keep her blindfold on as she swings her mighty blade. And sometimes she cries the tears of the blood of the innocent. For she doesn’t always hit the right target.

Honestly, these two of our society’s flaws, laid out rather evidently, speaks volumes about how civilisation, no matter how complicated and flawless it might seem, still has it’s cracks.

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