segunda-feira, 19 de outubro de 2009

The fall

So what about justice in this country? Justice is often thought of in terms of crime and punishment. Miscarriages of justice are notoriously common around politically motivated court proceedings, but they are not in any way restricted to these types of cases. In fact the idea of singular miscarriages of justice in some ways completely misses the point.
Many of industrialised 'democracies' employs a system of justice that deliberately targets members of the working class. Basically this is a tactic of ignoring the long established link between inequality, poverty and crime and managing the results. Long term unemployment, poor housing, and alienation from any meaningful decision-making process which could improve communities combine to create an environment in decay.
It sets up the conditions for communal decay and contributes massively to what is called 'anti-social behaviour'. This is not an attempt to rationalise away or ignore the very real impact that petty crime has, both to individuals and to society as a whole, but to argue that justice can only be achieved by tackling the causes of social decline and also by treating everyone equally when judging their actions and resulting impact.