Randall & Rawls

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THIS IS A GUEST POST OF SORTS. These are the words of my friend Randall O’Brien. I often turn to Randall’s words when I’m trying to try to make sense of things. They are a wonderful lens to view the world through. Let me give you an example. At the end of this post is a link to an essay Randall wrote. Please click that link and read it. It’s not long. It’s true. It’s powerful. It’s timely. If it doesn’t touch your heart deeply, yours may be hardened to stone at this time.

Among several graduate degrees, Randall studied Human Nature and Personality at Yale University. Mostly though (in my opinion) he studies real life.

He knows a lot. Most importantly, he knows ABOUT being a POPS. Randall is a self-described “hands-on grandparent, hoping to help raise five good humans.”

After the emotions, comes thought:

A THEORY of JUSTICE
(A theory, a book by John Rawls)

Changes anyone???

1. Who was John Rawls?

  • A philosopher who taught at Oxford, Cornell, M.I.T. and Harvard.

  • Famous for his Theory of Justice, and his book by that title, which sold 200,000 copies, and spawned 5,000 articles, papers, and other books (and counting).

2. What is Rawls’s Theory of Justice?

  • Concerns SOCIAL JUSTICE.

  • Rawls, essentially sees “Justice as fairness.”
    He establishes justice, or fairness, through a hypothetical “Veil of Ignorance.”
    Meaning? Meaning we imagine agreeing to the rules of society—fairness and justice—without knowing our place in society, our class, social status, assets, intelligence, etc, to which we might add race, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, or any other imaginable demographic.

In other words, what rules for a fair society would we write beforehand if none of us knew who we’d be in this world? This “Veil of Ignorance” should lead to fair rules, and laws to enforce them.

3. So.
Question: If we were to seek to form a more just society using Rawls’s theory, what changes would we make.

4. Let us remember: Justice is a coin with which we purchase peace.

5. With a tip of our hat to JFK, shall we acknowledge: “Those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable.”

Hope.

By Randall O’Brien

Thank you Randall—for friendship, for shining the light on things I would have not seen otherwise.

CLICK HERE TO READ RANDALL’S ESSAY: A Bronze Star for Brenda