2016 Voter's Guide: How Do We Address Injustice?

     Edmund Burke, English statesman and political theorist, supported the American cause in the British parliament, but opposed the revolution brewing in France.  Because of this, his detractors like Randall Price, charged him with inconsistency.  One good revolution is as good as another.
     Burke responded, in his Reflections on the Revolution in France, that there was a key difference between the two revolutions.  In America, the colonists had worked for years to redress their grievances.  They lived within their rights and responsibilities as British citizens until it was obvious that the king was not upholding his end of their charter.  In contract law, if the king did not fulfill his duties, the contract was void.  The colonies remained within the rule of law until theydeclared breach of contract and moved toward independence.
     In France, however, Burke saw something else.  The complaints of the citizens were real.  The aristocracy was unresponsive.  In pursuing justice, the French populace overthrew the rule of law in order to establish something new.  Burke predicted that one governmental system would fall to the next until such instability resulted in the nation that the people would clamor for a dictator.  A tyrant has the power to provide security amid chaos.  Enter Napoleon.
     There are many injustices to be corrected in American culture.  Drug sentences are notoriously unequal with much longer sentences given to black men.  Systemic racism keeps communities in poverty generation after generation.  Corporate and government corruption continues to grow.  For young idealistic Americans, correcting these injustices is a worthwhile life's work.
     The Framers of our constitution knew there would perpetually be pockets of injustice in our country.  The very first right they enumerated in the Bill of Rights included the right to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.  They provided ways to fix those injustices without destroying the foundations of our country.  Today's revolutionaries would do well to consider the consequences of overturning the rule of law as they address their grievances.
     William Wilberforce worked within the rule of law to address the abolition of slavery.  For 40 years, he spoke, advocated, and proposed legislation to deal with that stain of slavery on the English nation.  Finally, after 40 years, Parliament abolished slavery in the British empire.  The movie Amazing Grace tells the story.  When the final vote was announced, everyone applauds Wilberforce for his perseverance.  And there was no civil war.
     This fall, vote for boldness that will fight to correct injustice, but do so with a commitment to perseverance within the rule of law.