Distributive Justice
Distributive JusticeAll societies have certain flaws. These flaws are present in all forms of government, and some of them seem to have no definite solution. A problem or flaw that arises when talking about social philosophy or forms of society is the problem of distributive justice. In discussing this problem many solutions or standards have been presented. The most promising and famous of the solutions are the seven canons. These canons deal with the heart of the problem .How does a society “distribute” wealth among its members?
All seven of these canons have a unique approach in dealing with this problem. Some have been applied and have failed, while others flourish. How can one choose what is the best solution? The only way to decide this is by deciding which canon is the least flawed? It is quite obvious in looking back in history to see which canon is perceived as being the fairest, the easiest, and the overall best approach. That is the canon of Productivity. The canon of productivity, favored by capitalistic theorists bases its beliefs on , the treatment of people according to their actual productive contribution to their group. A much easier way to phrase this would be, what you put in you get out. In its raw belief this canon seems great. What could be fairer than that? Unfortunately things are not that easy, we live in a capitalistic society based on this canon of productivity, and yet poor people still exist. There are still the unfortunate who claim they need help from the society that has wronged them. Obviously this canon is deeper, and things are not that easy. Is this canon fair? If it is believed that it is unfair that there exist the poor and the rich than this canon cannot be considered the solution. The canon of equality would be better suited for this theory. The treatment of people equally and equal contribution could only work for the best. Even this canon is flawed since depriving someone of working harder to increase their own personal productivity would violate the concept of justice in itself. It isn’t just to put a limit on the amount of money that a person could make.
There is no one perfect canon, and there is no perfect combination as well. The canon called perfection could be considered as best only if social and economic wealth worked for the best for the entire society. This would have to be done without prohibiting a person’s ability to gain more, thus violating their own personal justice. This problem has been dealt with by instituting programs such as welfare, and taxation. This perfect canon would work on the principle of treating people according to their actual productive contribution to their group, just like the original. But the flawless version would have programs such as welfare, health care, and various other social programs that worked. All this could theoretically be achieved through taxation. If society could just eliminate the huge bureaucracy that came along with all of this, the systems would be efficient and just might work the way they were designed.
Taxation in itself seems unjust. I have earned my money so why should I give it up? The whole philosophy behind taxation is what makes the canon of productivity work. Taxation tries to work out some of the flaws found in the canon of productivity. If everyone gave a portion of their profit to help the greeter good than everything would work. The only way this would work is if the tax money was used properly. Tax dollars should not be wasted, because if used properly could help many people by creating social programs such as, welfare, health care, etc… President Bush’s tax cut plan is designed to help many Americans. What should be focused in on in this tax cut plan is who this tax cut will really benefit. The question arises is it just to decrease the taxes of the people who are doing well at the cost of those who are not doing well. By cutting taxes many people may lose jobs, go hungry, or not have health coverage. That is not just. Taxes could be a vital weapon in fighting the flaws of the canon of productivity and cutting taxes will not solve anything. By cutting these taxes more people will suffer than gain.
Certain canons such as equality, need, effort, and utility, just don’t work due to human nature. In order to make these work flawlessly we would have to change ourselves. It is much easier to change the society rather than human nature, so this is just not practical nor can it be expected. The canon of productivity in itself allows us to fulfill our basic need to grow, to conquer, and to feel like we are not just helping society but ourselves as well. This canon allows people to focus in on what they want, whether that may be greed, or charity.