I am the problem.

“The world howls for social justice, but when it comes to social responsibility, you sometimes can't even hear crickets chirping.” ― Dean Koontz

  

According to our beloved Google.com, social justice is a noun, meaning: "justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society." Social responsibility on the other hand is "an ethical framework which suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large."

The trend in society of late is one which values social justice.  Everyone from teenagers to middle-aged celebrities is crying out for social justice, for a more equal society; less poverty, more compassion.  We shout from the rooftops the need for a more just society, for a more equal distribution of wealth, for more opportunities for the disadvantaged, for change to the systems that marginalize the majority of the people that live in this world.  We make noise about governments and companies needing to make changes in order to create a fairer world.  Nothing changes so we shout louder, thinking maybe they just don't hear us.  But they do.   Everyone hears us.  Articles, videos, Facebook posts and tweets about social justice issues must take about about half of the worlds bandwidth in this connected aged.  

Everyone wants social justice.  But what about our social responsibility?  Most people are willing to make a lot of noise about how things should change, but how many of us are really willing to give up the advantages we have to ensure that others aren't disadvantaged?

Western society values immediate gratification, convenience, and material accumulation above almost everything else.  Yes, we want social justice, but, for most of us, probably not enough to give up these things. I'm not writing this to be judgmental - I'm guilty of this too.  Standing in the grocery line up, feeling like treating ourselves to some chocolate, how many of us would leave the line to go find a fair trade chocolate bar, (generally placed in a tucked away aisle in the back of the store) when we could reach out and grab the Oh Henry right next to us in line?  Sure, it was probably produced by children who were trafficked across borders and forced to pick cocoa for no wage, but if I left, I'd lose my place in line, and I'd have to walk all the way back to the grocery store.  It could cost me an extra 15 minutes.

G.K. Chesterton, a brilliant British author and theologian, was once asked to weigh in on a discussion addressing the question "what's wrong with the world?"  His reply?

Dear Sirs,

I am.

Sincerely yours,

G.K. Chesterton 

No, G.K. Chesterton (as far as I know) didn't mean that he was single-handedly to blame for every problem this world faces.  But he knew how to take responsibility for his actions that perpetuated the problems.  The answer to this question today is the same as it was then. Yes, the systems in place in this world seem to disadvantage some while others reap the rewards. But the responsibility does not lay solely with those who set-up those systems. We are the ones creating and maintaining the systems by demanding the rewards they allow us to reap.  Maybe these systems would cease to exist if we didn't demand them.  Maybe sweatshops and child labour would become a thing of the past if we didn't demand that our clothing be less expensive.  Maybe slavery would end if we stopped purchasing electronics made with slave-mined tantalum.*  We have a social responsibility.  Our habits create the need for the systems that exploit others.  If we change our habits, maybe this need would disappear, and social justice would be attainable.

According to Matthew 25:31-46, we will all one day stand before God, and he will separate us into two groups.  One, he will invite into the kingdom of God, calling them blessed for feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned.  The other he will condemn, casting them away for refusing to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the sick and imprisoned.  I wonder what he'll say to us who know that our actions cause suffering around the world, but refuse to change them.  Like the second group, we often passively accept the suffering around us and do nothing to alleviate it.  If passivity alone is enough to condemn us, we who actively encourage systems that cause suffering by reaping the benefits have cause to fear.

We cry out for social justice.  We shout at the top of our lungs that something needs to change.  "Why isn't there social justice?  What's the problem with this world?"  Well, I am the problem.  But I'd like to change that.

*I haven't done much research in this area, but last year Apple released a statement proclaiming that their tantalum mines were free of slave labour.  I hope there is more than one company that can boast this, but at this point Apple is all I know of.

what the New Year holds.

"It always seems impossible until it is done." -Nelson Mandela

At the risk of sounding redundant, a New Year has come.  I don't know what your Facebook feed looks like right now, but mine is riddled with cheesy quotes about new beginnings.  And, while I mock them, I must admit that there's something inspiring and encouraging about thinking that a New Year can mean a new and better you; a new attitude, a new adventure, a new lifestyle.  But of course it's hard not to be cynical, knowing just how many times people have committed to changing their lives for the better in January, and then abandoned whatever goals they set by February.  I've never been big on the resolution thing for this reason, but I have made the habit of giving myself challenges for the coming year.  These challenges generally have something to do with things I need to overcome or learn in order to have the freedom to live my life more fully.  Last year it was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, a huge lesson in trusting God, the year before it was running a half marathon to learn discipline, graduating, partially just to get out of the rut of being a student, and starting my career, to step out of my comfort zone (2013 was a big year for me.) As it's only three days into the year, I haven't spent much time yet thinking about what areas of my life could use a challenge, but I definitely feel the overwhelming desire to be able to say this time next year that I'm living life more fully than I am today.  And, as evidenced my previous blog posts, one of the things weighing heavily on my heart is living a life of justice.  

I know I've talked a lot about how I want to live out justice in every area of my life, so saying it again is unnecessary, and a little bit unhelpful.  I do want to live justice, and I'd love to challenge others to do likewise, but as a challenge, that one's pretty vague.  One valuable thing I learned in University was how to set a good goal.  A good goal is something called a SMART goal.  It's an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. By this standard, "living a more just lifestyle" makes for  a ridiculously poor goal.  I've already got the "t" (by the end of the year), so let's start with some specific (and realistic) challenges for the year.

This year, I want to give more away.  Time, money, energy.  I've become somewhat selfish with these things in the last few years.  As life has gotten busier and money has been scarce, I've been less willing to go out of my way to bring joy to the people in my life.  This year, that is going to change.  I'm going to stop thinking about how inconvenient it is to drive half an hour to visit a friend when she's upset about something, and I'm going to show up, fair trade chocolate bar in hand.

That brings me to a second challenge.  This year, there will be items that I will only purchase if they're Fair Trade: Chocolate, coffee, tea and sugar.  All four of these goods are infamous for their use of child and slave labour in production.  In fact, 72% of the cocoa beans used in our chocolate comes from Ghana and the Ivory Coast - both places that have high incidences of cross-border child trafficking, and most of these trafficked children end up as free labour, picking cocoa beans.  I've talked a lot in past blogs about ethical consumerism and voting on what is important through your spending habits.  These are four practical areas in which I can vote for justice, dignity and freedom for those who produce my consumer goods.

On a similar note, this year I want to support companies who are empowering others.  My last blog post featured multiple companies whose products are made by men and women around the world who are making a better life for themselves.  This year I am going to challenge myself to purchase the majority (for the sake of measurability we'll say 70%) of my consumer goods from these companies.

Lastly, I'm going to educate myself more on the injustices of this world and what little-old-me can do about them all the way over here in my comfortable Maple Ridge basement suite.  It's easy to think we're unable to change things because we're so far removed from some of the problems of injustice facing our world, but the truth is, there's lots we can do.  It just takes some thinking outside the box. So I am going to read books written by Godly people about what justice is and how we can be a part of it, and I'm going to find at least one friend I can bounce ideas off of (probably someone smarter than me who can help me discover ways that empower others and do more good than harm.)  And I'll let you know what we come up with along the way.

My hope is that by January 2016 I can look back on this year and say that in 2015 I lived more for others than I did for myself because, in the end, justice is pretty much about valuing others and spending yourself and their behalf.  If everyone did that, there'd be no injustice in this world.