Social Justice and Social Responsibility in the Here and Now — @segalink

The Industrial Age may have come and gone but vestiges of its culture is yet to leave a lot of us because of the indoctrination passed through generations to us.

Despite the changing sociopolitical landscape we have held on religiously to old beliefs, to that which the global connection. economy no longer rewards.

When the industries disappeared it left a huge gulf of a deficit in casual jobs and job creation became far more difficult with economic hardship and unconscionable anti-people policies.

Some would say the Industrial Age was a blessing, and justify this with the account of the growth of commerce and market share. In fact we can measure how far we have come when we see the picture of our parent’s old vehicles as compared to brands available now.

Suffice to say that we have evolved in quantum leaps and a lot of profits, jobs and developments have been heralded over the years but how many people count the actual cost of this on the environment and the responsibility of industries to the people that bear the direct incidence of their negligence?

To this extent some may argue that industrialization made the world worse off. This likewise can be navigated when we consider the spate of pollution (see Stop the Soot campaign in PH), look at the pollution of rivers in Ogoni land, checkout the CO2 emissions from vehicular traffic that impacts millions of people in major cities like Lagos for hours per day.

Explore gas flaring and long term implications of trial drugs and experimental products marketed to us at give away prices. Look at the number of lives being ruined by gross negligence of arrogant customer service across sectors, check out government’s unconscionable communication or semblance of malice with the people and ask yourself when will things really change?

When exactly will firms consider environmental impact studies and prioritize their responsibility to society without being pressured by activists or advocacy groups? When will banks overhaul their customer service effectively and re-engineer them to actually care? When will government take responsibility enough to value transparency and accountability knowing that their failure has direct incidence on citizens across communities who will pay with their lives?

The answer is NEVER. These changes will never happen as firms will never budget ahead to care or be responsible to people with direct incidence of their negligence unless they are compelled to do so. People don’t do what you expect but that which you inspect. This is where the individual comes in. This is where political will plays a major role. This is where our unity is key. This is where our diversity keys into the puzzle.

The problem of externality paralysis while focusing on bottom line and cutting costs, will forever be outside the firm and government but with direct impact on the people. It is the people that will lose their livelihood when the rivers gets polluted, it is the people that will die of lung cancer if air pollution and gas flaring is not curbed.

When government is not held accountable because of identity politics of hate (Populism), the incidence won’t discriminate amongst the people. If police brutality is normalized and allowed to flourish because we are yet to be directly affected, then the society fades away before our very own eyes.

All that our advocacy is demanding is that, in as much as we can not solve all societal problems, can we at least ensure that we hold institutions within the republic accountable for the problem they are causing in the first place with universal institutional reforms across board?

In other words we should legislate and make bills cum repeal and replace bills that are no longer representative of the society as it stands today. Then we enforce this enough to strengthen our institutions for sustainable development. Our long term issues will be less complex if we manage the contribution of institutional gaps to these pile.

“We cannot have it both ways: if we are free, we are responsible: if we are not responsible, we are not free” — Fulton Sheen

Isn’t it time we personalize the question and ask ourselves if we are free? Is our government free? Are the firms responsible and governed by the free? Do we call ourselves an institution without responsibility to our society?

Photo Credit: Pintrest William Ayala