TOPIC
the human group - 102 - what is just?
To receive what you deserve.
Determined by what?
There are many interpretations and theories from which we derive our ideas of what is just.
Some believe that Justice is issued from God, or nature itself. Others believe that it is obtained through a collectivised morality derived from the common people. Nietzsche believed that slave morality came from the same idea (the common people) and that it was only in active resentment towards Master morality; those who create their own rules.
Socrates described justice as a ship sailing through turbulent oceans crewed by a powerful but drunken captain (the common people), untrustworthy advisors (politicians) manipulating the captain into giving them power over the ship’s course and a navigator (the philosopher) who is the only one who knows how to reach the port. In order to arrive safely, Socrates believed that the navigator must take control of the ship.
This day and age we have the idea of justice being thrown around with no investigation as to a common understanding of what is just and to make things worse we are still caught in a judicial and social system that believes punishment is a just way to deter unaccepted behaviours and actions.
Justice is being called to our attention in a myriad of ways so lets practice our ability as Socrates’ navigator and help steer this clunky ship through these turgid waters.
REFLECTION
It is amazing how much a conversation can change with those who participate. The online session had an effortless flow in which we explored justice through Socrates’ parable of the ship in turbulent waters. The in-person session was driven by a perspective on justice that illustrated the need for in-depth study of justice before we have the right to discuss it. Therefore there is a hierarchy; those with the knowledge should be amplified and those who have not done the work ordered to listen. Is this dynamic to discover justice a just way of doing so? I personally do not think so, but it gave us a good starting point to explore justice.
These two different conversations can be deconstructed and examined through the lens of the parable (above in ‘topic’). If the navigator/philosopher is the only one who knows the way, then who or what is this navigator, and is this who is being referred to as the one who deserves the soapbox?
I would be suspicious of any kind of constructed hierarchy to deliver justice. This sounds more to me like the untrustworthy advisors/politicians wishing to guide the course of the ship for their own agenda. This sounds like the kind of justice we have now; systems of rule that maintain various monopolies of power.
So how do we identify the navigator and how do they find the true signal of justice?
One human said that there is no inherent justice, it is just a story.
There are many stories of justice and where it is derived. How do we determine which justice to follow?
It was suggested that justice in its purest form stems from an internal knowing that everyone has the capacity to tap into. Perhaps what we refer to as the heart. The untrustworthy advisors are the architects of story that pull us out from our internal compass and direct our seeking justice towards a goal of their own. The weaponisation of narrative is a way in which the politicians manipulate and control the people (the drunk captain). The use of fear within story is their most powerful instrument.
The navigator is a child of the universe in awe of all that unfolds giving them the widest scope of information. The observer observes themselves and everything around them as a phenomena. With the largest funnel of listening the navigator is able to gather the greatest understanding of the nature of things and provide the tools to get to the port of justice. However, for the navigator to successfully guide the ship through turbulent seas to the port of justice they must navigate the powerful drunken captain (the common people) and the untrustworthy advisors (the politicians).
This is a severely dangerous path. Historically our navigators have been persecuted, assassinated and crucified in a variety of ways.
What skills does the navigator need to acquire in order to successfully survive this journey?
The navigator needs to protect their ability to understand the world; an open mind and heart from the influences and delusions that will bombard them along the way.
Each individual begins as a navigator, yet their openness leads to manipulation and then a closing down as fear monopolises their navigation skills.
In my own experience maintaining my own intuitive compass is strengthened through its use, meditation, healthy food, curiosity, creative practices and spending time in nature and with ourselves. A practice of a kind of spirituality is needed to defend against manipulative narrative. A set of foundational guidelines and rules.
Neitzche’s master morality is created by those who make their own rules. Yet if they do this without compassion they become the untrustworthy advisors. A successful and powerful navigator is one who makes their own rules guided by a spirituality that leaves their empathy and compassion intact enabling them to use their powers to inspire the drunken captain (the common people) to find their own inner compass and effortlessly sail the ship to the port of justice.
Over and over again this journey historically has been sabotaged or co-opted. Gandhi successfully steered India to independence yet it was left divided and Gandhi was assassinated. It seems that the influence of the advisors is so strong and persistent that it inevitably succeeds inhibiting justice.
If the navigator influences the direction of the ship and they arrive at the port of justice then the untrustworthy advisors are put on trial and seen for the truth of their manipulative and selfish actions. Sadly this desperation inspired within the advisors leads to horrendously unjust actions towards the navigator and covertly upon the drunken captain (the common people).
We should not lose hope though. Presently we are dominated by a global system of untrustworthy advisors at large. Yet at the same time our ability to affect the narrative has been amplified exponentially. Navigators have access to large audiences and once the fires of inspiration burn truth into our visions and unlock our neglected hearts the advisors will not stand a chance.
And when we reach the port of justice we will create new tools of exercising justice in which restores our navigating abilities. No longer shall we seperate and punish those who have stumbled but will catch them as they fall and give them a reason to live and respect the evolution of all.
Thank you x
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