What is the greatest barrier to a just society facing the world today? We are no longer humans. In fact, we now are different humans. Whether it was when Sargon fought the battle of Ur back in 2271 B.C., or when society became organized into hierarchal classes back in Mesopotamia, the success of some people would mean hardships for others.
Nations fought each other for land, and in result innumerable bodies lay cold on the battle grounds; Some families became more noble, and in result others lived as slaves- stripped away from freedom, their lives were made a living hell. At this point, society is no longer fair, or just. Therefore, the greatest barrier to a just society facing the world is the classification of people into different nations or social classes.
All human beings were the same until the separation into nations. In result, competition arose between nations, and soon an age of rising cannibalism began. In countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and South Sudan, tensions still exist today. In fact, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace’s (IEP’s) latest study, only 11 countries among the 162 covered were technically not involved in war.
On such battle grounds battle grounds have children lost their friends, women lost their men, parents lost their sons, and the world lost its people. It is reported that in the 20 century alone, at least 108 million people have sacrificed in wars. Nations broke into wars, fighting for justice, but have they really achieved justice? Is it right to gain justice through sacrificing the lives of millions of innocent people?
The answer is no. Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”
Furthermore, people within a nation are classified into different social classes by their monetary wealth. Yet this classification makes justice impossible to achieve, because under such a scenario where the wealthy live much better lives than the poor, society’s resources are unevenly distributed, and this inequality is directly reflected in food consumption. Around 805 million people in the world suffered from starvation in 2014, and places like Africa and Southern Asia have undernourishment rates of nearly 20%.
Furthermore, under nutrition in the aggregate directly lead to 3.1 million child deaths in a year, or 45% of child deaths in total. In other words, many people are so poor that they don’t even get enough food to survive. On the other hand, consumers in North America and Europe alone waste around 209 to 253 pounds of food per person annually. Yet an an average person in the United Sates only eats 4.7 pounds of food every day.
Concluding from all the above statistics, the amount of food wasted every year could feed everyone for two entire months. This scenario not only happens with food, but with every other resource. If people can not abandon the classification of social classes by wealth, society will never be able to achieve justice.
Armory may be silver, wealth may be gold, but only equality lights the path to justice. Humans shouldn’t classify themselves into different groups, because in the end one groups success will mean the other groups failure or sacrifice. Instead, humans should unite and improve together. We are no longer humans, until we free ourselves from our given labels and classifications of nations and social classes, and view every man in this world to be equal.
