The first half of my life has been mired by social insecurity, a lack of independence and (a lack of) holistic social and philosophical guidance. I pledge to you (and myself) that the second half of my life will be of high(er) ethical rigour and praxis, guided by a refined and well reconciled and thoroughly holistic prowess in philosophy and knowledge across the board.
It is a requisite part of social justice that we hold ourselves to a high standard of social accountability to all those people who were are a part of and enter our lives on a daily and everyday basis. We were best at this social imperative and endeavour in the ‘hunter gatherer’ period where small scale social accountability in tribes aligned and coalesced with political accountability.
I intend to mend all social relationships afflicted by a comparative lack of streamlining in ethics, in all its far-reaching aspects.
Two applicable songs spring to mind, which I will quote from in a bid to offer my social accountability to all where my knowledge of ethics was not commensurate with the high(er) ethical standard I wish I was previously endowed with but have subsequently attained. Here are their lyrics:
Trouble by Coldplay
Oh no, I see
A spider web is tangled up with me
And I lost my head
And thought of all the stupid things I’d said
Oh no, what’s this?
A spider web and I’m caught in the middle
So I turned to run
And I, I never meant to cause you trouble
And I, I never meant to do you wrong
And I, well if I ever caused you trouble
Oh no, I never meant to do you harm
Oh no, I see
A spider web and it’s me in the middle
So I twist and turn
Here am I in my little bubble
Singing out, I never meant to cause you trouble
And I, I never meant to do you wrong
And I, well, if I ever caused you trouble
Oh, no, I never meat to do you harm
They spun a web for me
They spun a web for me
They spun a web for me
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Christopher Anthony John Martin / Guy Rupert Berryman / Jonathan Mark Buckland / William Champion
Trouble lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
The Reason by Hoobastank
I’m not a perfect person
There are many things I wish I didn’t do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so, I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know
I’ve found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you
I’m sorry that I hurt you
It’s something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That’s why I need you to hear
I’ve found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you
And the reason is you
And the reason is you
And the reason is you
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know
I’ve found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you
I’ve found a reason to show
A side of me you didn’t know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Chris Hesse / Daniel Estrin / Markku Lappalai / Doug Robb
The Reason lyrics © Wb Music Corp.
We must heal together, inclusively, with reconciliation in good faith, not in a reductionist way, but including necessarily, inescapably, peremptorily and imperatively – the spill-over and overlap (mutually inclusive) of everyday social interactions into political praxis and comprehensive social justice – not to punish but to rehabilitate and enact restorative forms of (social) justice.
In concluding, I’d like to quote from Nietzsche’s Human, All Too Human. I’d like to invoke Nieszsche on justice/injustice here, as may be applicable, or partially applicable, as experiencing universally. Importantly, an injustice canvased herein is (structurally) inclusive of the politically exclusionary economic and social aggression, currently1, of most of the persons in the upper class(es) in capitalism by not opposing it and as moored to their class hyper-privileged positions – namely, these (classed) individuals not explicitly supporting the need to transition to a genuinely progressive post-capitalist society:
“It is foolish to act unjustly. – An injustice we have perpetrated is much harder to bear than an injustice perpetrated against us (not precisely on moral grounds, nota bene – ); the actor is always the actual sufferer, if, that is to say, he [or she] is accessible to pangs of conscience or has the insight to see that through his [or her] action he has armed society against him [or her] and isolated himself [or herself]. That is why we ought, purely for the sake of our inner happiness, that is to say so as not to lose our ease and quite apart from the commandments of religion and morality, to guard ourselves committing injustice even more than against experiencing injustice: for the latter carries with it the consolation of the good conscience and hope of revenge and the sympathy and applause of the just, indeed of the whole of society, who live in fear of the evil-doer. – There are not a few who understand the unclean art of self-duping by means of which every unjust act they perform is reminted into an injustice done to them by others and the exceptional right of self-defence reserved to what they themselves have done: the purpose being greatly to ease the weight of their own burden.”2
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