Economic Justice : What does it mean??

 Today economic gap between rich and poor has increased to such a level that t seems nearly impossible to rectify. According to an Oxfam report, 62 richest people have wealth as much as 50% poor population. This has led to heating debates and propaganda. Poor see rich as devils. Communists are accusing capitalists. Many people are talking about the need to change the economic system and want an economic system that can bring economic justice.

 But what does economic justice mean? Does it mean everyone should have the same amount of money? In that case, even if somebody doesn't work properly or has a less responsible job will have the same earning as that of a person who is better and has more responsibility. Why will people do a job of more responsibility? Imagine a sweeper has the same salary as that of an engineer then why would anybody do engineering. This idea of an economic system is neither just nor sustainable.

 Then does it imply the rich has to give a share of their money? When people say the rich should give their share to the poor, it reminds me of a story – story of ant and cockroach.

 The story goes somewhat like this. Once upon a time, an ant was searching for a safe place to build a home. After searching for days it found a place where it built its home. The place had plenty of food and the least enemy, unlike its previous home. After a week, a cockroach came and found a hole in the ground which it made its home. The ant and the cockroach were neighbours. The only problem the place had was during half of the year the foods were available in quantity more than sufficient for a whole year and in another half of year there was no food. Both knew about the problem. Ant used to eat food just sufficient and stored the surplus food. It started doing extra work and gathered more foods every day and by the end of the first half of the year, it stored food enough to survive through another half of the year. On the other hand, the cockroach was fun-loving and careless. It spent the entire first half of the year enjoying food and did not save a single grain. Now the second half of the year came. After a few days cockroach had nothing to eat. It started starving. On the other hand, the ant was enjoying its savings. Cockroach went to ant and asked it for food. Ant gave it some food but that was not enough. Cockroach asked for more of its share but ant refused. It said,” it is my saving . I have worked hard to save it”. Now cockroach made a plan. It called upon a few insects and flies from nearby areas and accused the ant of plundering the food and not sharing its food. Other flies and insects who were also facing food shortage, developed sympathy towards the cockroach. They started yelling at the ant and accusing it of being heartless and greedy. They forced the ant to share its savings.

  

 Now what happened with ant was an injustice. This can’t be economic justice. Cockroach’s problem was due to his lack of preparedness. It would be called injustice towards the cockroach if ant after saving enough burnt the rest of the food and made the cockroach its slave in return for food.

  However, the question remains unanswered "What is economic justice?". Every man has his own view and understanding of economic justice. Where shall we look for the right answer? The answer is THE NATURE. Nature is just.

If we observe nature and how it distributes its resources we will understand what kind of economic system is good for humans. If we observe nature carefully we will find that the resources which are essential for human survival are available in nature in abundance and can be acquired with the least effort. For example, air is the most essential resource required for human survival so it is made available by the nature in abundance and can be utilized with minimum effort. All you need to do is breathe. The next thing that is essential for survival is water. We all know that 2/3^rd of the earth’s surface is occupied by water and a huge amount of water is stored in the form of groundwater and snow. But to acquire water we need to go to the source of water and put some effort to improve its quality to make it useful for drinking purpose. Similarly, food is the third most important for human survival. Hence it is available in amount lesser than that of air and water. To grow crops we need more effort comparatively. Hence the conclusion is, for humans, a just economy should mean an economy that ensures the availability of the resources or goods which are essential for humans at a cheaper rate and it should be accessible to all. In other words, the price of products should not be based on demand but on necessity which is contrary to today’s market behaviour. In the existing economic system, the price of a product depends on its demand. The product which has more demand has more price. This means the product which is more necessary has more price. This is what is wrong with today’s economy. Prices should depend on the necessity of the product rather than demand.

In my view the economic system which can deliver things as nature delivers is a just economic system in the real sense.