Nowadays, the words "social justice" can be dangerous political slogans. Thanks to Glen Beck and crew, the phrase has come to mean 'taking from the haves and giving to the have nots'. Left-wing politics has always seen the government as the great leveler, and the Obama administration has been pursuing policies that get government more and more involved in restricting and, through bailouts, taking control of private companies.
Well, what does Judaism think?
Certainly, Judaism believes in the literal meaning of social justice. No company, organization or other entity has the right to persecute, steal from or otherwise hurt any group or individual in a just society. Monopolies that artificially inflate prices, big businesses that allow faulty or dangerous products to reach the public, employers that exploit and mistreat their employees are immoral in those actions.
It is the purpose and duty of responsible governments to stop such activities and protect the whole population from them. That is social justice in action.
But an extreme form of this kind of thing becomes social IN-justice. When individuals and companies are creative enough and talented enough to excel, and reap great profits from it, they should be allowed - no, encouraged - to continue to do so. Being wealthy from honest and smart work is not a sin!
A person is obligated to give 10% of his income to charity. If someone wishes to give more, they are allowed up to 20%. More is not allowed, lest a person be overly generous and come to need charity themselves. I believe that this rule is flexible when one's wealth reaches very large proportions. Indeed, legendary philanthropists, such as Nathan Strauss, were reported to have given away more than 50% of their wealth, and still had tons left over.
Nonetheless, it is the obligation of the successful to give their 10%. It is NOT the right of anyone else to forcefully legalistically
take it away from them. In other words, Robinhood was a criminal, despite the romance.
And further, it discourages excellence to know that if you do too well, you'll be taxed, investigated, and reviled. The crooks need to be reviled, not large companies that are successful through honest genius. Think how much Intel has done for mankind? Or some large medical device company!
Sadly, the world condemns Israel for being so successful while their Palestinian neighbors still wallow in poverty. It is sheer evil to say such a thing! The Palestinians have been given every opportunity to excel, to build their economy. Instead, they steal the monies given to them by the international community and shoot rockets at children. Instead of trying to improve their lives, they try to bring down their successful - and peace loving - neighbor, Israel. For shame.
So Judaism does not believe in "Share the wealth," rather in make a better world and give of your blessings to those less fortunate. According to Rambam, the highest form of giving is to give poor people the means to support themselves. Give them jobs, education, opportunities. Not just a hand-out. Do not train people to be dependent, rather help them through the tough times and give them a brighter future.
That's true social justice.
