opinion 9
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Owsley: There is no such thing as justice Finn Owsley Contributing Writer When I was in high school, my school sometimes brought in speakers to give talks to the school body at weekly assemblies. One week, the speaker was an American soldier who related some of his experiences in the military and how they affected his outlook on life. I remember one particular part of his speech well— he brought up something called the “Heinz dilemma.” There are a number of different ways to describe it, but here’s how he presented the scenario: Your spouse is very ill and will surely die unless they get the medicine they need. However, the pharmacist upcharges the medicine considerably, making it too expensive for you to afford. Do you steal the medication and break the law, but save your spouse? Or do you follow the law and allow your spouse to die a preventable death? His answer was: you should steal the medicine, save your spouse, but then afterwards, turn yourself in to the police and take responsibility for your actions, to make right for the crime you committed. While I believe the soldier told us his answer to generate a discussion, I find the actual implications of the viewpoint to be disgusting and harmful. That answer epitomizes a
larger problem with how we view the concept of justice in America. The problem with his answer is that it posits that you have a moral imperative to receive punishment because you broke the law. But in this scenario, no one is helped by you turning yourself over to the police and then going to jail because you stole the medicine. You are certainly worse off because you’ll be in prison, and your spouse is worse off because you won’t be there with them after they recover. The taxpayer, and society as a whole, are worse off because your imprisonment is a financial burden. This action helps no one, and many people are harmed. So why would the soldier have come to this conclusion? It stems from the idea of “justice.” What is justice? Many a philosophy student has debated this question, but a quick internet search reveals many basic definitions—almost all of which revolve around the idea of people getting what they “deserve.” Simply put, justice as defined here, and as many people think of it, is a harmful concept. In the Heinz dilemma, the soldier believes that because you break the law to steal the medicine, you need to pay for that crime by serving time in jail, getting what you deserve
for breaking the law. “If you do something bad, you should be punished” is seemingly the fundamental tenet of justice to most. I’m hesitant to embrace an idea like this. I want to make the world a good place for as many people as possible, so it’s essential to remember that law-breakers are also people. The only reason I think someone should be “harmed” is if it will truly make the world better off. The common concept of justice is directly contradictory to this—it suggests that people should be punished based on past acts, regardless of their present or future intent. Justice is no more than revenge and retribution under a different name—the brute desire to harm those who have harmed us. But in a modern society, we must rise above that desire to gain the best possible outcomes. However, I’m not arguing that we should never punish people for their crimes. Legal systems do serve a crucial role in keeping serial criminals off the street, deterring crime and rehabilitating criminals. Yet, I think the idea of punishment being morally righteous is more damaging than whatever good it actually does create by helping us maintain a functional
society. While this may seem like semantics, it’s an important distinction. The real-world effects of this “righteous” mindset are plain as day in the American justice system. Many aspects of the system clearly embody the idea of punishing those who commit crimes with no regard for the actual impacts of those punishments. The United States holds 2.3 million people in prison—far more than any other nation in the world. This is a result of many problems within the judicial branch, including over-punishing minor crimes, ripping fathers out of families with long prison sentences and generally focusing on punitive rather than rehabilitative sentencing. All of these consequences are harmful, and all of them are caused by a skewed idea of justice. In order to effectively fight crime and help people in our country, we need to discard the idea of justice as it is today and focus only on finding the most positive outcome. If we cling to the notion that every misdeed inherently needs an equal punishment, we are only inflicting unnecessary harm on criminals and ourselves. That’s right: the problem with our justice system is how we view justice itself.
Covert: Gratitude—what students need and employees deserve Alex Covert Contributing Writer Next Friday, Mar. 4, is National Employee Appreciation Day. Observed on the first Friday of March, the official holiday was created to remind employers to thank and reward employees for their good work. In a message to the university, President Eric Kaler stated he wants to use the holiday to focus on “self-care and gratitude for our staff employees,” planning a variety of benefits for university workers throughout the day, including, but not limited to, an appreciation lunch and early dismissal. I noticed President Kaler addressed his message to the university staff, not the student body. This struck me as odd, as we’re the group that benefits most from the work each staff member contributes to the university’s success— and, by extent, our education. From the professors teaching us our coursework to service workers maintaining the facilities where we live, work and eat, every Case Western Reserve University employee helps provide us with the environment and resources we
need to thrive during our time here. In the fast-paced environment that comes with attending a top university, it’s easy to forget that a staff member had to put time and energy into making and supplying the food you eat at the dining hall. It’s easy to forget the late nights that security guards endure to keep our campus safe while warding off further crime. It’s easy to forget the service workers who clean up residence hall messes students are too disgusted to even look at. We’re so busy going to class or doing our homework that we often forget to be thankful to those who make our experience at CWRU possible. With President Kaler’s message in mind, I think the student body should use this week to develop gratitude towards university employees. Gratitude is a strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something for what that person has done to help you. There are many benefits to practicing gratitude in your life; research has shown that gratitude is strongly correlated with improved health, stronger re-
lationships and an overall greater level of happiness. In my experience, whenever I have gratitude towards others, I have a greater appreciation for my privileges and a healthier perspective on my challenges. Genuine gratitude has to be developed from within. Popular techniques to develop gratitude include meditation, thank-you notes or counting your blessings. Personally, I like to think about how fortunate I am right before my meals. Since not everyone has convenient access to decent-tasting food—yes, this includes Leutner and Fribley Commons—it’s easy to remember how lucky I am to eat a good quality meal that gives me energy for my studies. The idea behind these habits is that the more time you spend thinking about good things that happen in your life, you’ll more easily notice them in the future. Developing an awareness of gratitude also makes it easier to express it. It can be shown through words or actions—on either a small
or large scale. Relating to the university staff, this could be as simple as an unprompted “thank you for what you do,” or “I hope you have a good day” (as someone who’s worked in customer service, those quick compliments really do help). If you want to do better, try displaying gratitude in your actions: move the furniture in the common area back to its proper place, don’t leave your waste outside of the garbage for someone else to pick up and clean up the mess you make in the bathroom. It’s those simple actions that make all the difference. Just like too many national holidays, National Employee Appreciation Day values a group of people that should always be appreciated but rarely are. We should take this opportunity to grow and show our appreciation of CWRU’s employees, making their jobs more enjoyable while improving our ability to be thankful for their work. By showing gratitude to others in our community, we can develop positive habits and promote a healthier, happier university environment.
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