I long for Peace with all my
heart. Peace is a word bandied about on
Christmas Day when everyone pays lip service to it saying, “Peace on Earth and
Good Will to Men.” But what about the
other 364 days a year? Do Americans
really want Peace?
There are 2 ways to achieve
Peace. One is for a repressive dictator
to brutally kill all the dissidents. We
wouldn’t like to see that here. The other is for there to be Justice. That’s the one I want. There can be no Peace without Justice. I had to reach university level education to
even learn what Justice means. It isn’t
just retaliation for harm against you.
There are many kinds of justice: social justice, racial justice,
economic justice, environmental justice, and more.
Yet, in today’s world, there is
no Justice in the Justice System. We see
multitiered justice different for Whites, Browns and Blacks; different for males
and females; different for rich and poor.
How did it get this way?
There’s no Justice in a system
that cuts school funding, cuts public assistance to the poor, cuts funding for
women’s health, cuts funding for contraception, then provides no other career
avenue for the resulting youths other than being cannon fodder for unending
wars. How did it get this way?
There’s no justice in a system
that allows giant corporations to exploit our natural resources desecrating the
Earth and polluting the water, air and soil on which all life depends. Meanwhile, we see our children’s health
become damaged, sacred burial sites unearthed, and our property values
destroyed. How did it get this way?
Don’t believe a word if someone
says, “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
BULLSHIT!
We still live in a Democracy; a
Democratic Republic. That means the
PEOPLE RULE within the limits of the Constitution. The President is not a king and the United
States of America is not for profit! The
government derives their just powers from the consent of the governed! Our public servants exist at our pleasure to
serve us, the People. And especially the
least of us, the children, the poor and the disabled. And to justly manage our public lands for us,
the People.
Incidentally, did you
hear? Talk about gender justice! Virginia just became the 38th
State to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Finally! After 97 years! Women might become equal to
men in the eyes of the law. Believe it
or not, it’s still not a sure thing! How about that?
So, what can we do to achieve
Justice and Peace? A lot! We can march
in the streets. We can join groups of
like-minded people and together we can storm the offices of our elected
representatives. We can demonstrate on
the steps of the capitol. We can write
letters. We can run for office. We can pass local ordinances to protect our
cities and county. We can make sure
everyone gets out to vote. Or we can
join a phone bank and call people, like we did for Virginia a few months ago,
to turn the Virginia House of Delegates blue so they could ratify the ERA. We are the People. Let’s grab the bull by the horns and Rule! Now is the time to take action!
