The East Bay has made it into the news again, and as usual, it isn’t a positive story. On November 2, the 99% gathering known as Occupy Oakland initiated a general strike in the city which deteriorated into isolated acts of violence and damaged property. Now, students at UC Berkeley have occupied Sproul Plaza to protest planned tuition increases by the regents.
Watching the Occupy movement brings to the forefront a concern which seems to be hard-wired into us humans. From trivial things like “Why does Frank have a parking spot and not me?” to the tragic “Why does this person have to sit in the back of the bus just because of their skin color?” people tend to be very concerned about justice. Now, justice means different things to different people, and we never seem to see injustice until we’ve been personally wronged. But, as flawed as it may be, we all have a sense of what is just and fair. So, where do our innate senses of justice and fairness come from?
