Vol. 9 - On Justice and Equality
“The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”
– Aristotle, Greek Philosopher
In every nation across all of time, there have been those who cry out for equality – but what they often seek is not true justice. They do not seek equal laws or rights, but equal results, outcomes, and stations, regardless of effort, talent, or virtue. What they truly demand is not equality under the law, but uniformity; not fairness, but sameness.
Alexandria must resist this, as equality before and under the law is the foundation of liberty, but forced equality of condition is the adversary of freedom and justice.
Justice does not seek to cut down the tall to level the playing field, but ensuring that each person receives what they are due – that the law-abiding citizens are rewarded while the criminal is punished. A just system must distinguish between the innocent and guilty; excellent and idle; honest and corrupt.
To treat all outcomes as equal is to upheave all that is just, and to flatten the meaning of equality. It is to deny the truth that people are different, strive for different things, fail differently, and succeed in different ways.
In pursuit of justice, we must remember that the Kingdom of Alexandria believes in equality before the law, not after it. A just Kingdom sees no class, title, nor creed in the law. It treats everyone equally in rights and duties, but not with equality of outcome. A government cannot ensure that all succeed – only that all are free to try. To use the power of the Crown to force equal outcomes requires the very tyranny we seek to avoid: the punishment of success, the reward of sloth, and the manipulation of justice for political gain.
Let Alexandria be a Kingdom of equal law, not equal lives. Let her people rise or fall by their own virtue, not be bound by arbitrary standards of equality. Let justice be blind, but not without a mind.
Equality is not the highest virtue, but justice is, and justice demands that each citizen be free to live their own unique life.
– Veritas