Shaker Lakes

Restorative Justice

Now that we’ve cleared up a few things…

1) Corporations don’t care about us or this Earth
2) Our elite controllers will do anything to hold power 
3) We must end militarism and bullshit about ‘security’
4) Republicans, and corporate Democrats do not help us
5) Addressing climate chaos is required quickly

We could make this a much longer list, but if you agree with the above, we’re already tracking together. And we’ve lost precious years with the Trump Administration.

Restorative Justice is just what the term implies, restoring justice to people, places and things that have been the victim of crime. These can be cases of personal injury or sexual abuse, families mistreating members for this or that reason, perhaps opioids. The healing that is enabled through restorative justice is remarkable.

Yet this post is not about that fine work, but the larger scale peoples and systems in dire need of restorative justice.

For the citizens/government of the United States, we have two glaring groups where restorative justice is needed. The indigenous people of this country, so called ‘Indians’. And the folks from Africa that we enslaved and terrorized for hundreds of years. We’ve called those folks a number of things, almost all of them derogatory. 

From my perspective there is no debate on whether these two groups deserve restorative justice. The real question is the scope of making amends, and how soon we can get started reversing this 500 year travesty. I’m hopeful that the renewal of our politics we’ll soon be restoring justice to our federal government, ending the long standing corruption.

We note that some aspects of that restorative justice occurs when social systems are strengthened. Black Folk and Indigenous Americans benefited from Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid – which adds to the reasons that Medicare for All is such a fine idea.

African Americans and Indigenous Americans are two of the poorest ‘tribes’ to inhabit these United States. What our ancestors did to these people is beyond reprehensible, it’s hard to even imagine the cruelty of these European immigrants. Amends are in order.

Specifically, focusing on nurturing and education for the young in particular is a good start. And making sure elders have everything they need to be comfortable. Money please.

As crucial as restorative justice is for these two groups, they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Hispanic and asians have been targeted, abused and otherwise mistreated as well. We need to end racism.

Another pressing aspect of Restorative Justice in our times is how to restore our Earth. We call this Restorative Ecology. How do we help to heal our only planet from the blight of deforestation and desertification? From polluted soils and GMO foodstuffs? From our oceans being a dumping ground and a failing source of food?

It can feel overwhelming, and it may in truth be overwhelming to all of us. These are perilous times. But Life Never Fails. We may self-destruct, but Life will continue. So what’s our tact?

Same as it ever was. Resist war! Live lightly. Support minority populations. Eat organic food. Contribute as you can to bringing down fossil fuel  and agribiz corporations. Engage politically. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

And one more thing…

Never forget that we are all Here together in Life, and that Life is miraculous. Hold Our Source, and we’ll get all this other business worked out.

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