Real Social Justice

Peace is not just the absence of conflict; it requires the presence of justice!

Where there is poverty and hunger, justice would remain elusive, mainly because of the glaring inequality of life caused by the continously widening gap between the rich and the poor. To achieve a genuinely lasting peace, at the very least, this gap should be narrowed and the poorest among us should simply live in modest life.

For me, poverty is more than the statistics of economics but a problem of relationships where members of our society need to see the importance of relating one another. That the affluent members of our society have to feel and demonstrate charity and for our policymakers to think with common sense the real needs of our people and communities.

Out of this genuine concern for the needy, it would spare them the indignity of having to beg for help, or worse, turn to crime. On a more realistic approach, churning out practical national policies to better the lives in the rural areas that would lead to improving the delivery of basic services would mean a lot of things.

In reaching out, we need to strive to provide not just money but the principle of teaching a man how to catch fish through programs and projects that would empower them economically. Therefore, we must not encourage dole-outs as it will encourage laziness and further diminish the self-worth of individuals.