"A standard used to assess the fairness of a society. Justice is a central moral standard that requires the fair and impartial treatment of all. Social justice differs from other realms of justice, such as that relating to the application of law, being centrally concerned with the fairness of a social order and its attendant distributions of rewards and costs." -- excerpt from The Dictionary of Human Geography (2009)
"An application of the concept of justice to the wealth, assets, privileges and advantages that accumulate within a society or state." -- excerpt from Palgrave MacMillan Dictionary of Political Thought (2007)
"The virtue that ordains all human acts toward the common good." -- excerpt from New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003)
Beware:
All too often,
We say
What we hear others say.
We think
What we're told that we think.
We see
What we're permitted to see.
Worse!
We see what we're told that we see.
Repetition and pride are the keys to this.
To hear and to see
Even an obvious lie
Again
And again and again
May be to say it,
Almost by reflex
Then to defend it
Because we've said it
And at last to embrace it
Because we've defended it
And because we cannot admit
That we've embraced and defended
An obvious lie.
Thus, without thought,
Without intent,
We make
Mere echoes
Of ourselves--
And we say
What we hear others say.
-- Chapter 18 introduction
Parable of the Talents
by Octavia Butler