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.

In a nutshell, this principle circles around the principle of equality. This socialist concept simply means that all people in a society must have equal access to basic rights that allow people to have opportunities, healthcare, and justice under the law. This also means that any form of prejudice or bias against anyone due to their being part of certain minority group is forbidden.

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.

The first thing that one has to keep in mind would be equality because that is what it centers upon. While the whole idea behind the concept is a great one that is beneficial to society, implementation of reforms can be a big problem because each group has their own definition of the term. It is because of its broad definition that are some disputes between socialist groups advocating for change.




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