Chapter 1: Justice is a Human Construct

There is no jealous God, there is no angry God and there is no vengeful God. Those emotions are all about humans. There is no such thing as the western rendition of karma. Karma is an Eastern concept, and it is neutral, it doesn’t take revenge on people who have wronged you.

We project all of that out there because it is easier than acknowledging and feeling our emotions around pain and grief and anger.

What Humans Do ~

We (humans) constructed justice and its systems in order to manage the affairs of humanity in the fairest way that we could think of. In America, we are failing miserably and that’s because we have fallen far into the abyss of idolatry of wealth. Here in the United States, people care about money. Hard stop.

There is no objective universe that will “even out” our very real suffering at the hands of others. Life is not fair, karma does not exist as a vehicle for revenge, God does not exist. If the meek inherit the Earth it will be after it has been robbed of all treasure by billionaires.

So here we are, in our beleaguered lives, wondering what went wrong.

And Here is What Went Wrong ~

1. Americans weren’t paying attention the first time the minimum wage was suppressed. We bought into the idea that generating business was good for everyone. “Keeping wages low encourages businesses to invest.”
2. No one was paying attention (or cared) when legislators increased their own incomes in nefarious ways such as expanding campaign finance regulations. We wrote angry articles but it didn’t help, the draw of money kept legislators in lockstep.
3. These two concepts came together making an unreasonable space in America for the middle class and completely compromising the poor. Legislators with heavy contributions from big businesses have kept minimum wage very low; taxes on the wealthy low, and their own pockets full. Living in America has become a nightmare.
4. Health care expenses are very high because insurance companies are making money on our illnesses, full stop. If healthcare wasn’t profitable, America would have nationalized healthcare thirty years ago.
   1. Next time you hesitate to see a doctor, thank a congressperson for making your illness more expensive than anyone can afford. Big business and Pharma have paid your friendly local congressperson enough money to keep the healthcare status quo, status quo. How do you like that American Patriot?

With billionaires in charge of our lives, as Americans, we only function to meet the billionaire’s needs. We are consumers, always contributing to the “bottom line” of the wealthy.

How do you create equity and equality, in other words, Justice, out of this?