Furthermore -- are wealth and poverty woven together with justice? Even though in the nature of the world “life is not fair” and some people have more talent, luck, and success than others, all are equal before God and equal before the law. As humans we are encouraged to acquire more wealth than some other people do. This is why there is so much injustice in the world. People take other people as “slaves” to have more possessions, and by doing so, they go out of their “liberty zone” and invade someone else’s liberty, taking away Justice.
Hence, Justice is the soul of poverty and wealth. According to Galbraith, there are two kinds of poverty: case poverty is for an individual and his or her family, and is mostly caused because of alcoholism, ignorance, mental deficiency, discrimination, or specific handicaps. The second one is insular poverty, which is when a whole community is affected and everyone is poor (251-252). This happens because of some natural catastrophe. An example of this is the Tsunami, and now there are hundreds of peoples who have no food or clothing because of this natural catastrophe.
Still, sometimes the rule in a poor society is that the one who does not work would not eat. According to Calvinist precepts, “the only sound way to solve the problem of poverty is to help people help themselves” (255). Galbraith says that there is much that can be done to help treat people rejected by the modern industrial society. Educational deficiencies can be overcome. Mental deficiencies can be treated. Physical handicaps can be remedied (255). There is only one problem; it is not that that government has lack of knowledge of what can be done. This will cause a shortage of money for the government, and they don not want to take the risk. There is no absolute provability that the problem will be solved one-hundred percent, and if it is not then it will grow big again. It seems to be that the government does more for the wealthy people than for the poor, because the government gets better rewards, therefore the government will much rather spend the money in things that will benefit the wealthy people more than the poor.
What can the government do to eliminate poverty? Galbraith suggests “better nutrition and health, better education, more and better housing, better mass transport, and environment more conductive to effective social participation” (256). Now, why is not the government doing all this? Galbraith also answers this, “We ignore it because we share with all societies at all times the capacity for not seeing what we do not wish to see” (257).
This should be obvious to everyone; why does society hold so high the “Declaration of Independence” if they do not follow it? There are still poor and homeless people in the United States. There are also millions of people that were not born in the United States and have a tough time because they are like slaves in a prison that they can not see. Where is the equality for all mankind? The Friedman’s said that “Not birth, nationality, color, religion, sex, nor any other irrelevant characteristic should interfere with the equality of opportunity” (268). There are poor people because the government is not doing what has to be done. There is no equality of opportunity for the people. Therefore, some people sacrifice the freedom of others for their advantage. Without freedom there is no liberty. Without liberty there is no Justice, and without Justice there are wealthy people taking advantage of poor people.
The Friedman’s also said that if force is used to achieve equality, it will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will eventually end up in the hands of people who only think about themselves and do their own interests (282). However, if a society puts freedom as the bases of everything, society will end up with both greater freedom and greater equality (283).
Indeed, the Friedman’s had a strong point when they said that a free society opens the doors for people to expand their abilities and lets people follow their own objectives.
This prevents people from suppressing other people, but does not prevent people from achieving positions of privilege, and prevents these positions from becoming institutionalized (269). If people within a society have the freedom to become what they want by following their own objectives, then everybody will want to have a position of privileged within that society. This will prevent that society from becoming part of a structured and well-established system. The Friedman’s in the conclusion on “Created equal” said, “Freedom means diversity but also mobility. Freedom preserves the opportunity for today’s disadvantaged to become tomorrow’s privileged and, in the process, enable almost everyone form top to bottom, to enjoy a fuller and richer life” (283).
“A fuller and richer life” – Is not that the essence of life? As men, we are all created equal, and we have the rights of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We have the right to Justice, and with this comes the right to be treated fairly. Whether a person is rich or poor, freedom is going to bring enjoyment of a fuller and richer life to any society. Indeed, justice wealth and poverty are woven together, but without freedom and equality, society is not completed and can not have a full and rich life. Freedom is Justice.
Works cited:
Friedman, Milton and Rose. "Created Equal." A World of Ideas Essential Reading for
College Writers. By Lee A Jacobus. Sixth Edition ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 261-. Rpt. in A World of Ideas Essential Readings for College Writers.
Galbraith, Kenneth John. "The Position of Poverty." A World of Ideas Essential Reading
for College Writers. By Lee A Jacobus. Sixth Edition ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 247-257. Rpt. in A World of Ideas Essential Readings for College Writers.
Jefferson, Thomas. "Declaration of Independence." A World of Ideas Essential Reading
for College Writers. By Lee A Jacobus. Sixth Edition ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 75-81. Rpt. in A World of Ideas Essential Readings for College Writers.
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions." A World of Ideas
Essential Reading for College Writers. By Lee A Jacobus. Sixth Edition ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 169-176. Rpt. in A World of Ideas Essential Readings for College Writers.