Reflection Paper On Social Justice

Social Justice to me means that everyone has the same opportunity to experience life in such a way that they can have all their needs met and feel fulfilled as people. This may sound really simple, but it is actually a very complex idea that I am going to try to break apart and try to explain here. The first part is everynone. When I say everyone, I mean every person in existence. Whether they are a citizen of the United States, a refugee from Syria, or an astronaut, no longer in the atmosphere. In essence, everyone counts. Second is opportunity. Opportunity is the set of circumstances that make an outcome available and the ability to capitalize on those circumstances. Third is experiencing life. This refers to the ability to move through their life from beginning to end with the freedom and agency to make educated choices about things that affect them. The final part is having needs met and feeling fulfilled. This is probably the most difficult one to explain effectively. To illustrate this idea I look to Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. I assert that in a socially just society everyone should have their needs met starting with the most basic (the ones on the bottom) to the most

I define power as the ability to create desired outcomes. This is generally thought of as done through the control of other people to create outcomes that benefit you, but that is not always the case in my paradigm. Power also exists in less adversarial ways like in the relationship between a teacher and student or in social advocacy. The amount of power that exists for a person is largely dependent on the situation and the goals of those involved. When talking about accomplishing social justice I believe it is important to understand the dynamics of