What would a just world look like?
#105
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
What would a just world look like if you could create it?
Would there be borders at which migrants could be turned away? Would there be armies? Would incomes vary?
Whatever this world would look like, it would look different from the just world I imagine. And my just world would look different from the ideas of a third person.
A just world is a subjective matter.
So, how can we move towards a just world when people already have very different ideas about theoretical considerations?
The American political theorist John Rawls had an answer to that question. He made it public in his landmark 1971 book A Theory of Justice.
Rawls set out a thought experiment, the "original position," in which individuals would design a just society from behind a "veil of ignorance."
Behind that veil, people were asked what policies they would vote for and what rules and laws they would support if they didn't know who they were: rich or poor, gay or straight, old or young, from the city or rural areas, black or white.
In a state that would emerge from such a set-up, one group would not be favoured over another. Because those who make the rules would have to be afraid of ending up in the disadvantaged group.
And such a state wouldn't have many rules at all. Who wants to limit themselves potentially? Such a state would protect the rights of gay people. It would protect every group. But it wouldn't tell people what to think or how to behave.
Such rules would create and fit nicely into a pluralistic society. Everyone could live according to their style.
Unfortunately, Rawls’ considerations don't have much use in practice. In real life, people know exactly their situation, so they usually vote in a way that works to their advantage. That is not reprehensible, but it prevents a pluralistic society from emerging.
Can we do something about it?
I think so.
We can imagine a world we would love to live in, no matter if we are black, white, gay, straight, young, old, or whatever. And then we can try to change the world a little bit in that direction.
A little bit every day.
See you in Europe,
Johannes
