The stronger in the society are the ones who define what justice is, their actions may be morally wrong, but, their might makes them right. Might is not necessary the physical strength but other aspects like financial, knowledge, skill, political and so forth. In this paper I will look on justice as it is controlled by the stronger in the society.
The first time I came across the idea of ‘might makes the right’ I was reading about survival for the fittest. The article was talking on how animals compete for the scarce resources in order to survive. It is the animals with physical strength that are able to survive when the resources are scarce. What would happen if the lion and other carnivorous are fighting for food? The lion might like physical strength and the roar will make it suppress other animals.
The same idea is applicable in our lives. The people who are endowed with certain strength are in a better position to use their might to dictate what is right (Montelibano J, 2015). This is where discrimination comes from. What happens when the rich and the poor are looking for the same services? The fact is the rich will use the financial strength in order to get the service before the poor. Take a case of covid19 vaccine. What will happen if the government does not control the cost of the vaccine? The rich will acquire it through unscrupulous means and leave the poor without it and their action will be just because they have financial strength and we live in a free market.
In the business field only the companies with enough resources are able to compete effectively. Why do we use Google every day? Does it mean it’s the only browser in existence? The fact is it has resources like the best minds, infrastructure and the like that other entities in the same field do not have. It uses those resources to its advantage. It can engage in unfair practices and its might will make all its actions to be taken as right (Nieva R, 2020).
During the recent Afghanistan war, the American soldiers committed crimes in the battlefield, but, they were not punished. The Afghans were convicted. Does it mean the American soldiers are special? Does it imply torture, murder and other evils done by American military officers are not crimes? When the military officers were caught in error, Trump, the former president, gave them presidential pardon. The move was motivated by might. It means the United States military officers actions are always right (Kristol J, 2019).
On a personal level, I have seen might make the right at our workplace. There was a senior officer and a normal staff who fell in love with one lady. The senior officer used his position of authority to intimidate the normal staff. There were threats of the normal staff being laid off. When the case progressed to higher ranks. The normal staff was found guilty. He was given warnings and instructed to stop the relationship with that lady. That was might at work. The senior officer used his position to determine justice.
In conclusion, the classes that segregate people in the society are more of justice is what is in the interest of the stronger. The gap between the classes continues to widen as might increases.
