The Justice Project:
Overview: During this project we covered the philosophies of justice, including Utilitarianism, Authoritarianism, and Rawls Justice as Fairness. The first justice monologues we wrote covered which of the basic justice philosophies we aligned with the most. We then moved onto researching Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin and the injustices that have taken place by taking natural resources and water from the land and the people there. Our second monologues covered issues of environmental injustice. Lastly we did the final Justice Project where we chose an issue of injustice and did something to work towards a just solution.
Justice Monologue #1:
What is Justice? What is Injustice?
I’ve always thought of justice as the fair execution of laws in a society. Now I realize there are many definitions for that simplification of justice. As I went through my notes I noticed I agreed with a lot from John Rawls Justice as fairness. I agree with these aspects: unbiased laws, Veil of Ignorance (to build a society that you would want your kids to grow up in), and to remedy the social and economic disadvantages. To remedy those disadvantages would need a carefully thought out method. I also liked the Dalai Lama’s view on justice a lot. “To give priority to compassion and forgiveness, they argue, would allow perpetrators of harm to go unpunished and hand victory to the aggressors.” I really like that quote from the Dalai Lama it shows that having compassion or forgiving someone doesn’t mean you have to forget their action or let it go unpunished. I think incorporating compassion and forgiveness into the justice system would allow for us to let go of the feeling of vengeance and allow for people to get sentenced accordingly for their crime. Take a simple homicide case. True justice would be the murderer getting sent to jail taking rehabilitation courses and having the possibility of parole. Injustice would be the murderer getting sentenced to death it gives them no chance to find remorse or make a change. I also think letting someone rot in jail is a worse punishment than killing them.
What is Justice? What is Injustice?
I’ve always thought of justice as the fair execution of laws in a society. Now I realize there are many definitions for that simplification of justice. As I went through my notes I noticed I agreed with a lot from John Rawls Justice as fairness. I agree with these aspects: unbiased laws, Veil of Ignorance (to build a society that you would want your kids to grow up in), and to remedy the social and economic disadvantages. To remedy those disadvantages would need a carefully thought out method. I also liked the Dalai Lama’s view on justice a lot. “To give priority to compassion and forgiveness, they argue, would allow perpetrators of harm to go unpunished and hand victory to the aggressors.” I really like that quote from the Dalai Lama it shows that having compassion or forgiving someone doesn’t mean you have to forget their action or let it go unpunished. I think incorporating compassion and forgiveness into the justice system would allow for us to let go of the feeling of vengeance and allow for people to get sentenced accordingly for their crime. Take a simple homicide case. True justice would be the murderer getting sent to jail taking rehabilitation courses and having the possibility of parole. Injustice would be the murderer getting sentenced to death it gives them no chance to find remorse or make a change. I also think letting someone rot in jail is a worse punishment than killing them.
Justice Monologue #2:
"What is the most just way to balance our economic needs, and environmental health?
The Black Mesa coal mine operated from 1960 to 2005 it would mine coal that was purchased by the Mohave Generating Station. While the mine was operational they used about 45 billion gallons of groundwater to transport the coal, in what is called “slurry” depleting the Navajo Aquifer. Locals now have to travel miles to transport water to their homes. Herb Yazzie, a former Tribal Chief Justice, was interviewed saying “Now we have less than 15 sheep, and we only keep one horse to do ranch work. There used to be springs that our livestock would use in the arroyos and mountains. All of that is gone.”
In 2019 the Mohave Generating Station closed down after 50 years, with it went the Kayenta Coal Mine which was owned by the same company as the Black Mesa Mine, Peabody Western Coal Company (PWCC). Mine reclamation was supposed to begin shortly after the Kayenta mine closed. Locals were hopeful that mine reclamation would provide the jobs that were lost when the mine closed. Unfortunately, the reclamation efforts never began. Minimal reclamation of the Black Mesa mine was done as well leaving the land of both mines scarred. Many Navajo and Hopi Tribal members feared that PWCC wouldn’t clean up the Kayenta Coal Mine based on their efforts in restoring the Black Mesa land. Many locals blame the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), which is a part of the U.S Department of Interior for not intervening.
“Environmental Justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias.” This is the second Principle of Environmental Justice. Peabody Coal Company and the OSMRE have not held up to this principle.
The third principle of environmental Justice “mandates the right to ethical, balanced, and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.” This is a good framework for what I think is important in a just transition.
The first part of balancing economic needs and environmental health on the Hopi/Navajo reservation would be to fully start reclamation of the mine sites. This would restore the economy that was hurt when the mines and power plant closed. As well as restore the land.
There has been positive progress in this fight. Deb Holland who grew up 50 miles east of Albuquerque and has experienced these problems first hand, was appointed the Secretary of the Interior in march. Which puts her in charge of public lands in the U.S. Progress is slow but it is happening.
"What is the most just way to balance our economic needs, and environmental health?
The Black Mesa coal mine operated from 1960 to 2005 it would mine coal that was purchased by the Mohave Generating Station. While the mine was operational they used about 45 billion gallons of groundwater to transport the coal, in what is called “slurry” depleting the Navajo Aquifer. Locals now have to travel miles to transport water to their homes. Herb Yazzie, a former Tribal Chief Justice, was interviewed saying “Now we have less than 15 sheep, and we only keep one horse to do ranch work. There used to be springs that our livestock would use in the arroyos and mountains. All of that is gone.”
In 2019 the Mohave Generating Station closed down after 50 years, with it went the Kayenta Coal Mine which was owned by the same company as the Black Mesa Mine, Peabody Western Coal Company (PWCC). Mine reclamation was supposed to begin shortly after the Kayenta mine closed. Locals were hopeful that mine reclamation would provide the jobs that were lost when the mine closed. Unfortunately, the reclamation efforts never began. Minimal reclamation of the Black Mesa mine was done as well leaving the land of both mines scarred. Many Navajo and Hopi Tribal members feared that PWCC wouldn’t clean up the Kayenta Coal Mine based on their efforts in restoring the Black Mesa land. Many locals blame the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), which is a part of the U.S Department of Interior for not intervening.
“Environmental Justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias.” This is the second Principle of Environmental Justice. Peabody Coal Company and the OSMRE have not held up to this principle.
The third principle of environmental Justice “mandates the right to ethical, balanced, and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.” This is a good framework for what I think is important in a just transition.
The first part of balancing economic needs and environmental health on the Hopi/Navajo reservation would be to fully start reclamation of the mine sites. This would restore the economy that was hurt when the mines and power plant closed. As well as restore the land.
There has been positive progress in this fight. Deb Holland who grew up 50 miles east of Albuquerque and has experienced these problems first hand, was appointed the Secretary of the Interior in march. Which puts her in charge of public lands in the U.S. Progress is slow but it is happening.
Project Defense:
- When we started this project I had been working on my Advanced Digital Arts project. At the time I was going to screen print t-shirts. I ran into some troubles with the way I wanted to do that so I chose to make stickers. I based the stickers on the game TROUT which is similar to games like PIG and HORSE. I decided to give the money I make off of them to the Grand Canyon Trust. They work to preserve the Colorado Plateau. I will be selling the sticker at the Boarding Haus and on Noel Night for my Advanced DA class.
- The philosophy of justice that my project reflects relates to the principles of environmental justice. Principle #2 “Mandates the right to ethical, balanced, and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.” We don’t have a sustainable way to keep water in the southwest. We must find a way to meet our needs without wrecking the environment. I used my project to raise money for the Grand Canyon Trust, a group working to preserve the Colorado Plateau.
- I honestly didn’t need to do much research for this project. My motivation came from my passion for these places. I’ve done lots of projects on topics similar to this so I knew where I was going with it from the beginning. I had to do some research on the product I wanted to make since I was going to originally make shirts, but I switched to stickers.
Project Reflection:
- I have yet to sell enough stickers to meet my $100 goal. I do believe I will through selling them on Noel Night and at the Boarding Haus. I was not able to make shirts which is disappointing but I still feel that my project was successful.
- I have not been successful yet because I haven’t had my exhibition to sell my stickers yet. I also was not able to make shirts. I think I’m going to raise more than $100 on Noel Night which will make me feel successful with what I got done. As I said in my project proposal I feel very strongly about river health. I’m not doing the most just thing but I don’t have time/energy to do anything crazy for this so I’m doing something to try and help a cause. I think I did pretty well for what my expectations were.
- This project happened in a time where I was frustrated and stressed out. So I honestly wrote it off for a little bit. I could’ve been more involved but I was struggling to do so. I do think I pulled it together pretty well and I’m happy with the product I created. I know I need to be much more engaged for the rest of this semester and the next one though.
- This project showed me I’m somewhat tired of all the climate change related projects I’ve done in the past. I still feel very strongly about these issues but I know I could think of more captivating projects to do. That is part of the reason I’m so interested in looking into the idea of draining Lake Powell into Lake Mead. That idea is so hard to wrap your head around it makes me feel like there are so many places you could go with it. I also started thinking about what kind of action project I’d like to do. I think it would be fun to do something that I haven't done before. I’m not sure what that would look like but I’d like to move away from art projects and papers and do something new.