Be informed:
Thinking Justice

First of all, one should probably ask oneself, what is justice? When everyone is treated equally or when everyone treats equally? And why is there injustice?

Whenever we were given a bag of gummy bears as children, all the bears had to be counted so that no one really had more than the other. I always thought that was good and fair. But later our distribution changed. It was no longer divided by number, but by colour and so, for example, a yellow gummy bear was worth more to all of us than a green one. When the gummy bears were distributed and my sister got the most yellow ones and my brother the most number of green ones (we didn’t like them!), the arguments started: “That’s unfair”, we said. “But where is the injustice in that?” my mother then asked. We all shouted in confusion and tried to explain that the green bears were silly and for my sister the red ones were best, but for me the yellow ones etc. The more different opinions there were, the more difficult it was for our mother to find a compromise.

But what is justice in this?

Who decides what is fair and what is not? Couldn’t it lead to another argument if one person says that the gummy bears should not only be sorted, but that the biggest person should also get the most number of gummy bears? Everyone has a different idea of justice, and for one person the justice of another may be unjust. In the case of the gummy bears, our parents could make the decision – everyone, no matter how old he/she was, received the same number of bears and the colours were left to chance. But who takes on this role when it comes to bigger questions – do all people in Germany have to be vaccinated or is a state allowed to interfere in a war? And is it fair at all if there is always someone who has the last word? Here in Germany, that is probably the government which is elected by the voting population, or the courts which act within the framework of the given and democratically legitimised laws.

Justice can therefore be something different for everyone, as everyone holds different values and norms. Some examples: Whether they have their origin in upbringing or one’s own experience. Or different opinions are formed. Sometimes several people hold the same opinion and form a group. Nevertheless, there are certainly at least as many different opinions about the favourite type of gummy bear as there are types of gummy bear.

And what about peace?

If I start from a state that I call peace, then there is also justice. Because if everyone can live out his/her own justice, then there is no reason for displeasure/dissatisfaction in connection with justice and thus no reason for hostility: there would be peace, everyone would be able to live out his/her own justice, because it also implies the possible justice of the other.

Beyond this thought experiment, it is much more difficult in our reality. Because everyone can have a different understanding of justice, which is not necessarily open to the justice of the other person. Everyone simply has different experiences and thus different values and norms. As I have come to know it, justice is often equated with the “middle” or with “equality”. That seems to be the best we have come up with so far.

How can this be resolved? If everyone had reflected and thought rationally about the experiences and history of others, would everyone then suddenly also have the same values and norms, and espouse the same ethics? No, because then we would no longer be human. Nevertheless, this abundance and diversity sometimes thwarts our justice.

But isn’t it precisely what makes us different, that we only exist once? Besides, what means would it take to abolish diversity? It would lead to violence again – discord. It is rather a matter of individuals learning to deal with and take into account diversity and thus also the different opinions and ideas of justice:

Peace is togetherness without violence, with communication.

Less prejudice, with listening.

Respect and transparency.

Peace with oneself, peace with one’s neighbour.

With compromise.

It can become more peaceful. It can become more just.

Esther Oriana Laaser