From the Tyldwick Tarot, Justice; from the Antiquarian Lenormand, Stars:
The scales of the Justice card are a reminder that the quality of fairness is what keeps things in balance. But it's not cut and dried, like slicing a pie and giving everyone a piece that's exactly the same size. A person who steals food should not get the same sentence as a person who robs a bank. A homeless person will need more help than a person living in the suburbs with a nice house. Justice is about equity, realizing that people have different strengths, challenges and limitations. The Stars card uses a compass rose that indicates the cardinal directions and their intermediates, suggesting guidance. When wanting to level the field, people at the top may assume they know what the people at the bottom need. But those who are wise will be guided by the answers to questions they ask rather than the assumptions they make.
So true. Here, when reading about criminal court cases, one sees the list of hardships the accused faced while growing up and as an adult -- chiid abuse, violence, addiction, poverty, homelessness, etc. -- and defence counsel hopes these will mitigate the sentence imposed. And I believe it does, particularly in the case of First Nations defendants. Settler descendants don't get it; they see some sentences as mere slaps on the wrists that deter nothing in future, and think taking past hardships into account is bs. We -- the current settler population -- though our ancestors worked hard and were longsuffering -- are so much more privileged to start with and don't realize it. Your description of offences carried out for different reasons (one for hunger, another for greed) illustrates the balance of justice very well and has affected my perspective. -Kate
ReplyDeleteThis is our orange dictator's mindset. Privileged and born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he feels entitled to whatever he wants and thinks he's an expert at everything (even though he's a self-centered idiot who creates disaster and chaos every time he opens his mouth). Wealth has nothing to do with wisdom.
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