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Equity is balanced justice according to circumstance.

Consideration of circumstance must include social, economic, demographic and geographic factors as well as individual health and well-being.

Justice is affinitive active truth and reason applied with compassion and empathy, and absent any rhetoric, duplicity, contrivance, subservience or expectation. Justice is an ideal. To seek justice, one must have a voice.

Balanced Justice is hearing and understanding all voices equally.

One who is in a position to actively apply (their version of) truth and reason, by virtue of their position has already tainted justice. There is no way completely around one's loyalty (i.e. subservience) to their advantage in a given power dynamic.

Furthermore, (as said), to balance justice, one who is in a position to actively apply (their version of) truth and reason must account for, listen to and understand all voices. Yet it is difficult to hear ALL voices and even more difficult to feel the pain of the powerless, to decipher the cries of the poor, or to hear the silence of the subservient.

So as one of the powerless, the poor, the subservient, the best I can do is work to find a voice then seek tainted justice.

This week I sent the following communication to University leadership:

No one will talk to me about equity.

How is it okay that those making $100,000 or more received an average 5.40% increase and those making less than $20 per hour received an average 0.33% increase?

How is it okay that our “equity experts” received an average 11.10% increase and our student support specialists received an average 2.53% increase?

How is it okay that you, whose names appear as leadership on the University organizational chart, received an average 10.42% increase and custodians received an average 1.77% increase?

How is it okay to talk about $500 million to go toward performance-based pay increases and not tie that into equal opportunity; (i.e. a voice)?

If the distribution for your $500 million is determined by our current process it appears the richer will continue to get richer and the gap will continue to widen.

In your State of the University address given this week you asked, “How do we create a more equitable and just society by using our most innovative ideas, policy and culture?” I am asking the same thing.

Yet no one will talk to me about equity.

I wanted to give this group the opportunity but I will be surprised if this communication results in anything more than additional insistent justification.

Justification is not justice.

I ask for discussion; you quote from the rulebook.

I ask for acknowledgement; you perform a song and dance.

I ask for consideration; you file a report.

I ask for justice; you make excuses.

I ask for compassion; you condescend.

I ask for empathy; you mewl.

I ask for goodness; you give me 37 cents.

I ask for a thinker; you send me a cop.

I ask for philosophy; you offer me bubble gum.

I ask why; you are silent.

Most people equate thinking outside the box with taking their head out of the sand for a minute. Guess what!? You’re still standing inside the box! And it will take you more than a minute to think at any level of consequence, much less find your way outside the box! I am so terribly disappointed in the predictably constant superficiality of Humanity.

• Where there is Humanity, there will always be varying degrees of power.
• Where there is Humanity, there should be Goodness, Compassion, Empathy, Justice.
• Where there is power, there is advantage.
• Where there is power, there is a desire for status quo.
• Where there is status quo, there is superficiality.
• Where there is advantage, Goodness, Compassion and Empathy will be random and sporadic, and there will never be justice.
• Where there is advantage, there will always be subservience.
• Where there is subservience, there will always be varying degrees of delusion.
• Where there is delusion, there is status quo.
• Where there is subservience, there should be rebellion.
• Where there is rebellion, there is a desire for change and improvement.
• Where there is improvement, there is Goodness, Compassion, Empathy, Justice.
• Where there is (even a hint of) rebellion, there is a reassertion of authority.
• Where there is a reassertion of authority, there is a gauntlet.
• Where there is actual rebellion there is a likelihood of failure.
• Where there is failed rebellion, there is status quo.
• Where there is status quo, there is power.
• Where there is a successful rebellion, there is a new order of Humanity.
• Where there is Humanity, there will always be varying degrees of power.

So if it only brings us back to where we began, why rebel? I believe, because, at least to some small degree…

• When there is a new order, there is improvement.
• When there is improvement, there is Goodness, Compassion, Empathy, Justice.
• When there is improvement, there is encouragement.
• When there is encouragement, there is possibility.
• When there is possibility, there is effort.
• When there is effort, there is a desire for change and improvement.
• When there is a desire for change and improvement, there will be rebellion.
• When there is successful rebellion, there is another new order of Humanity.

So, I ask for rebellion.

Beyond the rulebook, beyond excuses, beyond superficiality, beyond delusion, beyond the status quo, I ask for rebellion.

And again, I ask for rebellion.

Streaming rebellion.

Instead of predictably constant superficiality, predictably constant rebellion.

I ask for rebellion.

It is easiest to get worked up over personal injustice, it is more difficult to get worked up over injustice served to others even when the injustice is similar to or the same as a personal injustice, it is often more difficult yet to get worked up over injustice brought upon people who are different in circumstance, culture, geography or belief, and it is most difficult to get worked up over any injustice when I am fortunate, comfortable or even just okay within my personal circumstance.

I believe a common perspective of happiness is to find a way to be okay regardless of your circumstance and regardless of any clinging injustice. In other words, delusion.

It is a logical extension then to maintain that those who don't get worked up over injustice (especially obvious injustice) as felt by others are thinking and/or acting delusionally.

Delusional thinking or behavior is not always dysfunctional, (and sometimes it is necessary), but in this regard, the divisiveness created by the common injustice we have systematized in this country is keeping us from saving the world. In hindsight we will have no choice but to admit our behavior was dysfunctional.

Perhaps the 4th degree injustice described above as distanced by personal comfort, is not a separate category but a multiplier; or more correctly, a divisor. Perhaps the more you are (or the more you believe you are) fortunate-comfortable-okay-happy, the weaker, the more diluted your compassion, empathy or desire for justice. This explains the efforts of the most fortunate to maintain status quo by convincing the less fortunate that they are happy and okay within their personal circumstance.

To further dissociate and confuse within this equity dynamic, I believe we have an overall mindset that those who have more deserve more and as substantiated by our growing wealth gap, in the workplace and in other financially-driven circumstance, we have developed processes in which those who have more get more. Perhaps I have reversed the chicken and the egg; perhaps those who have more get more first, which then strengthens and justifies the mindset that those who have more deserve more. Regardless, I see this in my workplace (a large state university) and I have documented how across groups the richer get richer; (for example from 2020 to 2021 those making $100,000 or more per year received an average 5.40% increase and those making less than $20 per hour received an average 0.33% increase). Yet I have no doubt that for any given individual case, justification has been made or can be manufactured. Justification is not justice.

Analyzing what I know, my workplace, what began nearly a year ago as a search for personal justice has revealed (to me) what appears to be widespread, systemic inequity. This week I asked those with the word “Equity” in their title (i.e. equity experts) to help me to understand. I told them that I would seriously like to know if I am misinterpreting what I see and, if not, if there is an awareness and if there is work being done to correct / improve, and (again, if not), should there be? So far, (granted, it has only been a few days), I have received two responses that expressed curiosity and an official response from the Office of Institutional Equity outlining my rights, options and resources, and suggesting that I discuss my concerns with a “human resources benefits specialist” to better understand “the university’s global grading scale and job class structure.” I suspect it is this scale and structure, this exact process, that I am questioning, and I suspect it will provide justification and the University will come away secure and protected having put me back in my place. But again, Justification is not Justice, and I am not at all clear how one can see the consistent disparity in across-the-board percentage increases (ex. >$99,999.99 – 5.40%; Custodians – 1.77%) and not see inequity.

More than anything, I want to listen and understand. In this moment, I have no agenda beyond this request. Yet so far I have (maybe) piqued some curiosity and I have been steered toward resources that promise justification. We will see in the next few days if anyone will come forward to address equity and justice and compassion and empathy. If the equity experts do not have the time or inclination to discuss equity and justice and compassion and empathy, then (in this moment) I am inclined to perhaps ask this same group again; perhaps persistence is necessary. I feel like if I begin asking other groups or interested parties too soon, it will potentially muddy the waters. Ultimately I would like to see one of two outcomes: 1) an explanation convincing me I have misinterpreted data and there is no injustice, or 2) acknowledgement, awareness and the beginning of progress toward correction and improvement. This is not about me. I will say it again: there is a bigger picture here that I would very much like for others to see and understand or convince me that I am not seeing it or understanding it correctly. I will continue to pursue this, in some way, until one of these two results come about.

February 26, 2025: Three years later I have not accomplished either objective. There is no justice and there has been no acknowledgement, awareness or improvement. My last day will be March 1, 2025.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We the People of the United States: Not just the rich, the powerful, the entitled – Everyone!

in Order to form a more perfect Union: We will never reach perfection, it is a work in progress; it should be a work in progress. In this moment it feels like we are standing still or moving backwards. No work. No progress.

establish Justice: The rich, the powerful, the entitled talk a good game, but when the object of the game is to maintain status quo, empathy, compassion, justice are lost in the weeds of their words.

insure domestic Tranquility: Perhaps this originally meant peace among the states giving federal government power to quash rebellion, but today this concept of states has evolved into entrenched factions (which are sometimes partially defined by state borders) and when it is our federal government (all three branches) that perpetuates divisiveness and encourages rebellion, where do we turn? Our lack of domestic tranquility has made us a laughingstock.

provide for the common defence: Who are we defending ourselves against? Who is the enemy? I see the biggest threat to progress, to justice, to domestic tranquility, to our general welfare, to liberty as the rich, the powerful, the entitled. The creation of foreign enemies can be and has been a misdirection, a sleight of hand, meant to distract us from this internal threat. I would go so far as to say that this campaign to maintain status quo is a stealth form of domestic terrorism. Americans are dying every day from injustice, from a lack of empathy and compassion, for the sake of the almighty dollar, for the sake of a misremembered past, to maintain existing wealth, power and entitlement.

promote the general Welfare: Welfare regards the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity of a defined group or people and General implies “We the People of the United States.” I interpret this phrase to mean equitable opportunity; for Everyone. As a people we lack in this regard.

and secure the Blessings of Liberty: Somehow our government has come to believe it is their job to dictate who is allowed what freedoms. They have it backwards. Our government was created to protect the preexisting freedom of equitable opportunity. Freedom came first. Our government should be subordinate.

to ourselves: (Once again), Everyone.

and our Posterity: Oh! Wow! The Future! Is there a future? Do we care about future generations? Today we certainly do not act as if we do.

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

In this moment we do not need a new Constitution. We simply need a proper interpretation; a drastic scaling back of the power of the executive branch, a depoliticization of the judicial branch, and a restoration of civility and interdependence in the legislative branch. Our Constitution is a living, breathing document that must be seen and interpreted in its entirety, taking into consideration how interpretation of one piece may influence protections laid out in another piece. Our Constitution is a healthy, living, breathing document, with the potential for a long life; but it cannot, without us, deliver progress, justice, peace, security, goodness or freedom. Unfortunately, “We the people of the United States” are on life support.

This week I jumped through hoops. There was the preventative health hoop, the bureaucratic hoop, the authoritarian hoop, the capitalist hoop; all more pronounced this week, creating more discomfort and more pain than they do most weeks. I found it difficult this week to walk as much, read as much, think as much, write as much as I normally do. When the hoops are lined up in waiting, as they were this week, it is difficult to be creative; it is difficult to project myself outside the box; it is difficult to believe that progress will be made. To advance, to evolve, to improve one must step out of line, yet some weeks, days, hours, moments, there we are, in our place, obedient, subdued, in line.

Perhaps this coming week I will work to regain my discordant flow.

Yet, in a way, the low hum of unthinking, quotidian conformity was comforting. Though I claimed above that the hoops created discomfort and pain, I also found that by just doing what I’m told, what is expected, what suits the status quo, in a way, releases me, frees me from the discomfort of change. And sometimes the discomfort of change is more painful than the discomfort of being told what to do. Perhaps the initial discomfort and pain I refer to was simply an adjustment. I had an opportunity this week to upheave. I chose not to, I think because I was too busy with hoops. It was just easier to jump through one after another after another, than it would have been to jump through one, try to go around another, then dash off miles in another direction and return in time to determine how to handle the next. The flaming hoops are different. The flaming hoops must be dealt with or their keepers will chase you down with bigger fire; but sometimes rather than jumping through, the fire can be extinguished and the firekeepers temporarily mollified. But that is a lot of work. This week it was easier to jump.

To be free of discomfort is often to be stagnant and stuck. But to be free to act is often to be anxious and troubled. This week I am debating which freedom I prefer, personally. As a culture, as a species, I believe it is necessary to be anxious and troubled. But is it necessary that I personally be anxious and troubled? Or is it okay for me to step back, in line, and be free of discomfort. It has become abundantly clear that I am not, nor will likely ever be, in a position of power or influence from which I can help us (as a culture, as a species) to advance, evolve, improve. Yet I still work as if I can make a difference. And I have to wonder, if I stop making that effort will the “stagnant and stuck” part create even more discomfort? Or will I grow accustomed to the low hum of unthinking, quotidian conformity? If this week is an indication, I believe there is a good chance I could learn to live, comfortably, stagnant and stuck. I look around and there seems to be consensus agreement.

Perhaps this coming week I will again jump through hoops.

It is much easier after all to stick my head in the sand; ignore the facts and the statistics; close my eyes and cover my ears. For me though I find it very difficult to shut my mouth, yet when I am jumping through hoops and/or when I am around other hoop jumpers, that is exactly what I am being asked to do, and in fact, not infrequently, told to do. So when everyone else has their eyes closed and their ears covered, I typically walk, read, think, write

So perhaps this coming week I will, after all, work to regain my discordant flow.