College Knowledge for the Jewish Student by Schoem David;

Author:Schoem, David;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Michigan Press

49 Think about Social Justice

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you had the power to make the world a better place? You should give this some consideration during your college years because you'll find that you have much more power to influence change than you might imagine.

When people talk about social justice, issues such as hunger, homelessness, health care, and discrimination often come to mind. What areas do you think need change to create a more just world for everyone?

While it may not be difficult to identify the many areas that need change, the reasons for injustices and the solutions for creating more just conditions are often very complex. Sometimes the problem is as simple as bad people doing bad or even horrific things to others. Usually, however, the problem lies in the historic and structural conditions that maintain inequalities and injustices within societies or across national borders.

As a person embarking on a college education, you will have an opportunity to investigate and better understand the underlying causes of injustice in the world. It may be frustrating, to some extent, to learn how difficult it is to find comprehensive solutions. However, your new knowledge and insights may empower you to take action to work for the changes necessary to bring about a more just society.

One of the lessons you will learn in your studies is how powerful a person you are, in relative terms, just because you've received a college education. Globally, your college education places you among an elite group in the world. This is a privilege and opportunity you should not take lightly.

You might wonder how you could be a member of an elite group when you look about and see so many with so much more than you have. Surprisingly, sometimes it's precisely when we do have power and influence that we don't realize what we have.

Your college education gives you rights and responsibilities that comparatively few people worldwide possess. While you may be thinking that you're not so exceptionally smart or privileged given your place in your high school class rank or the fact that you may not have gained admission to your first-choice college, the fact of the matter is that you are among the most highly educated people in the world.

Think about what good you want to do with your education. What does social justice mean to you? What can you do to make a change in the world, whether it be among your friends and family, Jews and non-Jews in your community, your city, your state, or your nation or across national borders? How can you take advantage of the power and privilege that your college education confers to make the world a more just place for everyone?

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