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We live in a world of necessary injustice; a world that is not fair. It is not "fair" for industrialized nations nations built on the ashes of fossil fuels - to demand that developing nations sacrifice economic benefits for the "greater good". It is not substantively fair for industrialized nations to impose different standards upon their peers than were applied to them at the same phase in their development. It is not fair that millions, or rather billions, of people throughout the world suffer in abject poverty while a privileged few live in luxury, consuming resources at will, immersed in ignorant bliss. Life is not fair.

Injustice is a deeply rooted concept that informs the human condition; like death, it is an inescapable enemy that pursues us all. It is a concept embraced by the French expression "c'est la vie" - that's life. Life is not fair. In fact, throughout human history, societies have repeatedly acknowledged and even endorsed the necessity of injustice. It is a common theme that transcends cultural and political barriers, and is exemplified by the rule of law.

Common to all societies is a legal system of some form. Legal systems, of course, are noble creatures, fundamentally intended to "do justice". Yet inherent in all legal systems is the underlying assumption, and tacit acceptance, of some injustice at the hands of the system. There is a basic common understanding that the system is imperfect at some time or another, mistakes will be made with irrevocable consequences: an innocent man is executed; a rapist is freed only to re-offend; one man suffers for another man's crime. Such injustices are met with remorse, but ultimately they are viewed as acceptable losses, justified by the "greater good" the overall benefit derived from the legal system.

By analogy, just as it is not fair for an imperfect legal system to punish one man for another man's crimes, it is not fair to ask underdeveloped countries to "go green" where many advanced industrial countries owe their success to destructive environment practices and continue to pollute the environment. It is, however, a necessary injustice, for the alternative is catastrophic.

Learn more about this author, Jarrod Bayliss-McCulloch.
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