What does Justice mean today – 2023?

It’s been 3 years since the last president left office, 3 years since the first major pandemic in my lifetime and the world has changed dramatically. I was in high anxiety then, and now I’m starting to climb to that same space with an upcoming election. During that time (and before, around 2016), justice has taken a major punch in the gut. Rules don’t mean anything, people’s rights are disappearing, tempers are high and always ready to explode, respect is out the window, and I just don’t plain recognize the world we live in.

Being a baby boomer, life “seemed” simpler in my growing up years. Structure and rules were the norm, and consequences were known in advance and carried through. While equality was still an issue, racism and religious bias was rampant, people still tried to appear “respectful”. Of course, I was naive, and the present day craziness was just kept better underwraps. Nowadays, people just throw it all out there – rules? not meant for everyone. Laws – break them and get away with them. Free speech? Definitely needs a new definition. The lines are no longer shared by most – the lines are now blurry and no one knows when they’ve crossed the lines and gone too far. I’m so glad my parents aren’t here to see what the world has become.

What are we missing? Why do so many people not appreciate what an orderly society looks like, and why do people feel the need to take away the freedoms we have all rightly earned? The hollow words that we were all taught in school, that America is the best in the world, that they care about their people, that we are a forgiving and welcoming nation – are all a bunch of bunk. There is no justice anymore, in America. Voting rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, Religious rights, health rights, constitutional rights, etc. have been stripped away and we are moving backwards. There is no backbone, and certainly no accountability. It takes one person with an opposite point of view to ruin life for many.

I feel that every day that I’m alive, I’m viewing history being made. We don’t have blocks of time where everything is running smoothly, and the world experiences peace. What’s going on here is certainly prevalent in other parts of the world, because America is setting the example on what you can get away with. While I understand our not participating in the Ukrainian/Russian conflict, how can we all stand by and watch innocent people getting slaughtered? Didn’t we say “never again” after the Holocaust? Yes, one act of help begets a worse challenge, but shouldn’t all people have access to justice? There’s just too many bullies running things. We ask our kids to stand up to them, but they can’t. Because WE can’t.

I tell myself, I just have a little more time on this earth, and maybe in that time, I’ll see some change to at least back where we were when government didn’t have such a stranglehold on everyone’s lives. That goes for women and their bodies, Presidents and government officials, the needy and the immigrants. It goes for people staying in their own lanes and respecting laws and thoughts. It goes for freedom for everyone, and not just for those who own it through payments and deeds of others. It goes for countries’ responsibility to ensure their citizens a lawful existance, without conflict or depravity. It goes for reworking the inner self of just who you have control of – YOU. It starts there. Justice is missing, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Stand up for it, respect it, honor it and believe in it.