 Voices For Freedom Read Columns
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© 2006 Daniel J. McLaughlin Justice and The General Welfare Most of us in this world want justice for all people. It is a basic foundation of civilized society. Without justice, mankind can be no better than wild animals, where the only law is survival of the fittest. The term “justice”, however, has been hijacked and misrepresented by politicians and ivory tower intellectuals to advance their aims and personal biases. It seems to be more and more common and pervasive as time goes on. The simple meaning of justice that most people typically relate to is “rectitude in dealing with others, or impartiality”. Justice is treating every person fairly, treating everyone the same, using the same criteria in dealing with every individual, not giving undue favor, letting the facts decide. Justice deals with people’s interpersonal transactions with others. The contemporary misapplication of the term “justice” takes a number of forms. “Social Justice” seeks equality of living conditions or wealth or other human wants, “Eco-justice” seeks to have society treat the environment with “justice”. The problem with the terms “social justice”, “eco-justice”, or any other inventive combination is that it deliberately confuses any issue it touches. While most people agree that justice, as in “impartiality”, is important and desirable, many people do not agree that social programs imposed by the government, for redistribution or any other purposes, are appropriate or helpful. While most people agree that it is good to treat animals humanely and use our resources wisely, there are many that don’t agree that animals or nature have rights in any respect similar to human rights. By combining “justice” with other terms, the perpetrators try to use our respect for justice to make government programs and interventions more palatable and more respectable. A society can only be just where government does not pick the individuals and classes who will be the winners and the losers in the game of politics, but rather protects the rights, freedoms and property of every individual from attack by others. The most exciting aspect of this kind of justice is that it also provides the environment where the well being of all people, including the poorest, is most likely to be the highest. The Economic Freedom Of The World Report is one of the annual compilations of country data to measure economic freedom of nations throughout the world. The economic freedom scores have a significant correlation with measures of economic well being. Those countries that have the most economic freedom, meaning the least government intervention in the economy, the lowest tax burden, the lowest government payments, and so on, have the highest standard of living for all people, including the poor. They have lower infant mortality, higher life expectancy, lower unemployment rates, lower child labor rates, higher adult literacy, and so on. Virtually all measures of well being improve as the level of economic freedom increases and government intervention decreases. If we are to make sound decisions for our country and our future, we need to make sure we have a clear understanding when discussing issues. Hiding government programs under the veil of justice mis-characterizes the issues and confuses the discussion. Justice is about protecting the individual. Improving the general welfare of a country occurs by removing government from economics and the lives of it’s citizens. |
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Daniel Mclaughlin
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