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 Justice
is a fundamental attribute of a good community; one that is inclusive and
treats everyone fairly and with equality. Justice requires that we
live together in a
way that is, insofar as possible, good for all and not just some of us.
A good community
understand justice is necessary for a good quality of life.
A good community values compassion and what can be accomplished together.
It is also understood that justice is even about our
stewardship of environment in which the community lives, to ensure future
generations are fairly included in the continuing community.
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Housing is a key entry point into understanding how a
community defines itself.
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Housing
policy and development practices are a key
indicator of how a community values justice. If the weak and poor are second class citizens
without adequate housing then clearly we are not in this together. If land is to be devoured by
advancing subdivisions of McMansions and automobile designed
neighbourhoods, then there residents are simply individual consumers
isolated in their cars and homes. Conversely if public transit and
bicycle paths are encouraged, if neighbourhoods have shopping and schools
in walking distance, if homes invite social contact with sidewalks and
meaningful front porches, then our communities say to us we are important
to each other.
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"Who can stand in the House of God? People who do
justice. People who seek peace. Ps 24
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The
dominant cultural ideas shaping community have the power to define what is 'good'
and 'bad' about a community. This is the stuff of philosophy,
the "meaning of life", and it
is as real as it gets.
The arguments over the formation and development
of our community is the forum of political and social discourse. It is where
the idea of community becomes reality in urban parks, polluted creeks, big box stores, museums, homeless on the streets, low
or high density housing,
brownfield development, or
anything else that is produced by the decisions we make together about how this community
is to be. If there are parks, a clean environment, a careful use of land, and
affordable housing for all, then it is because we have chosen to have it so.
The
point of this is that community does not just happen. We
can be lazy about it and let others choose the options, but
the decisions we all make or ignore accumulate into the social and
physical environment around us. Preference for some or justice for
all is a political choice. |
