Chronological injustice

In her little classic On Violence , Hannah Arendt quotes two complaints against the injustice of time.

Alexander Herzen: “Human development is a form of chronological injustice, since late-comers are able to profit by the labors of their predecessors without paying the same price.”

And Kant: “it will always remain bewildering . . . that the earlier generations seem to carry on their burdensome business only for the sake of the latter . . . and that only the last should have the good fortune to dwell in the [completed] building.”

And they’re right, if the dead never share in the ultimate fruit of their labors.

Which means: No chronological justice without resurrection.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Dreadful Christ of Pär Lagerkvist

Peter J. Leithart

It’s dangerous to meet a god,” says the disgraced Pythia in Pär Lagerkvist’s The Sibyl. Her observation…

The Possibility of Possibility

Midge Goldberg

"Might could” is a Southern expression meaning “maybe I could” or “I might be able to,” conveying…

The False Promise of No Contact

Noelle Mering

Around the time nineteen-year-old Alice began cutting ties with her family, she announced on social media that…