Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
The "just savings principle"39Rawls refers to deserves to be highlighted here because of its importance and because one of the signs of the indifference towards social justice is the silence on the concentration and utilization of wealth. For example, internationaltexts on poverty eradication tend to provide surprisingly little information on developments at the other end of the income and wealth spectrum. Attitudes towards wealth and its uses are critical at all times and for all societies. There are moral issues relating to the obligations and responsibilities that most traditional philosophies and religions assign to those that have more than others. There are political issues relating to the difficulties that democratic States-even those that have an egalitarian view of the public interest-encounter in establishing or maintaining progressive tax systems and redistributive policies. Finally, there are economic issues pertaining to the use of wealth for consumption and investment; capital formation remains key to sustained economic prosperity and development, including the prevention and reduction of poverty. The reasons why some countries invest more or less than others and why investment levels vary over a country's history are difficult to comprehend fully, but the behaviour of the richest 10, 5 or 2 per cent of the population is one important factor. There is no automatic link between an increase in profits and the propensity to save and invest productively. Further, it not necessarily true that if a minority of people get rich (or richer), society will inevitably grow richer; in fact, it appears that if a small proportion of the population holds too large a share of the national income, capital formation declines. It was noted within the Forum that, in the Keynesian tradition, investment should be seen as a social tax on profit. In recent years, in the most affluent countries, the income and wealth of the leaders of the private sector have, if judged by the standards informally developed since the industrial revolution, reached extraordinary levels, and it might be appropriate for Governments and international organizations concerned with equity to look again at the "just savings principle". The principles of justice that have traditionally guided the establishment and development of societies are not only being transgressed; in many contexts their essential relevance and validity appear to be in question. Other organizing principles of society and the world, such as the reign of force, are finding their way back into the political discourse. Retributive justice involves the legally authorized and codified use of force. Neither social justice nor internationaljustice can be brought about by force.