A Problem of Social Justice

Imagine a world where there were no rules and everyone lived for themselves! We would probably look like something out of a syfy movie depicting life around the caveman times.

Social order is needed in order for a group of people to live, work or just exit around each other. If not, chaos and disruption will be the norm because everyone would feel that they can do what they want and there isn't any kind of consequences for doing so. If you ask anyone what social order is or should be, depending on that person's identity, you may get different answers. Social theorists Karl Marx believe it is the relations of economic structure, Emile Durkheim believes it is a set of shared norms and Talcott Parson believes it is a set of social institutions regulating patterns of action-orientations which are based on a frame of cultural values.
Regardless of what theorist you follow or believe, social order can be summarized as individuals agreeing to a shared social contract that states certain rules and laws must be abided and certain standards, values, and norms maintained. (Cole, 2018)

There are different umbrellas of social order that one needs to follow. One individual can have social order in their family that differs from their community, work and government. Some examples of social order are as simple as how individuals get respect in their own home, recycle their trash according to their city laws, paint the color of their homes due to HOA bylaws or are eligible to receive government assist because they fall under the federal guidelines of poverty.

The federal government follows the constitution of the United States and is funded by a federal budget that is set by the Congress. The constitution outlines the basic rights to every citizen of the US regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation. There are laws that define how old a person can be to buy a gun, who can marry who and how if an entity is receiving government funding, they cannot discriminate against a person because of their race, gender or disability.

Although there are federal orders, each state also have their own laws that can vary between each state. On top of federal and state laws, each county, city, town and community also has their own bylaws and regulations to follow.
An example of that is federal law states that marijuana is a schedule 1 controlled substance but in states like California and Colorado, marijuana is legal as medicinal and or recreation. Some states allow you to open carry guns such as Kentucky and others like New York, you cannot open carry a gun even if its registered to you.
If you break federal or state laws, you may get arrested, put on house arrest or fined. If you break your community laws you may be forced to leave or shunned by your neighbors or family. When you really think about social order, it is almost like having control or authority over an area or person(s).

Since social order has been established, we also have to understand social justice is also needed to make sure things are fair between individuals. Social Justice gives people rights and duties that are granted by the people with the laws they enact through the government. Those rights and duties are applied to where there are discrepancies and disparities that prevent any individual or group from the full exercise of those rights and to where It focuses with concerns about those in greater needs (Samuel-Burnette, 1989).

An example of some applications of social justice are the civil right acts of 1964. When people hear about civil right acts, many roll their eyes and think of Martin Luther King Jr or giving blacks priority over certain people when it comes to college applications. The civil right act is so much more than that. It outlaws discrimination based on race, color religion, sex or orientation. It also prohibited application of voters registration requirements, racial segregation in schools, employment and public accommodations. THose two sentences alone, groups everyone together and does not let anyone be singled out or left out.

Nelson Mandela has a quote that I feel summarizes social justice, It is in your hands to make a better word for all who lives in it.

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