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

Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War

R. R. Reno

What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…

How the State Failed Noelia Castillo

Itxu Díaz

On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…

The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves

Algis Valiunas

The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…