Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues, #8.  Justice:  Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.   At first glance, this quote rings true to the responsibility we have not only to avoid injuring those around us, but we also must avoid omitting benefits that are our duty.  A simple little phrase.  A complicated interpretation!  Whose duty is it to give, and who gets?  How much should we give, and how much should we get?  Are there duties for those who get or for those who give?  Who defines the duty?

Just the word “social justice” (which is actually 2 words, but could actually be one keyword as defined by Google or others) can cause temperatures to rise and passions to flare.  And I think that most of it comes down to one thing.  Money.  In a government context, that could be translated to taxes.

While government can be great and can accomplish magnificent things, I don’t believe that any government is the end-all, be-all.  We each have responsibilities in our personal worlds.  In the book, Rick teaches Shawn, without using words, about giving benefits that are your duty.

Shawn didn’t remember Cammi from yesterday.  It was a whirlwind lunch.  “Thank you, Cammi.  How do you know Rick?”

“He’s a regular, and we never forget great tippers.”

Shawn flinched slightly.  Great tipper?  I didn’t think you had to tip at these kinds of restaurants…

Homes in Order, Chapter 2

So, my blog is a financial blog, and I obviously have opinions on money.  But in looking at today’s virtue of Justice, I think that we also have duties that go beyond just money.  I think I have a duty of sharing the benefits of learning how to turn $1 into $5, and then learning how to turn $2 into $1,000.  So my duty has a financial aspect to it, but more than just finance.  It is knowledge and education, and it is self-reliance and self-control.  How can I teach people these powerful principles?  I’m trying!

The following is from Wikipedia:

Social justice refers to the ability people have to realise their potential in the society where they live.^[1] While “justice” (especially corrective justice or distributive justice) classically referred to ensuring that individuals both fulfilled their duties,^[2] and received what they were “due” based on interactions with other people, “social justice” is generally used in a wider way with reference to a set of institutions which will enable people to lead a fulfilling life and be active and contributors to their community.^[3] The goal of social justice is generally the same as human development, and the relevant institutions are usually taken to include education,health care, social security, labour rights, as well as a broader system of public services,progressive taxation and regulation of markets, to ensure fair distribution of wealth, equality of opportunity, and no gross inequality of outcome.

Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues, Virtue #7.  Sincerity:  Use no hurtful deceit.  Think innocently and justly;  if you speak, speak accordingly. Good advice for today!

#6.  Industry.  Lose no time.  Be always employed in something useful.  Cut off all unnecessary actions.

 

In the book, Rick teaches Shawn about the magic Franklin half dollar coin, and the “tails” side of the coin is Industry.

‘Tails’ means Industry.  If you flip that coin and it comes up Tails, then Industry tells you that you need to get off your tail and you need to get out there and work.  If you’re on the job, good things happen.  Generally speaking, if you work hard, you’ll be rewarded for your work.  Much of society has forgotten the virtue of hard work.  Hard work pays off.  So that’s it.  Pretty simple, huh?”

I’m thankful for my dad who taught me to work on our family farm.  There’s always work to be done at the farm.  Fixing fences, cleaning stalls, digging ditches, hauling hay, grooming horses, repairing equipment, and countless other jobs.  In fixing fences, we learned about efficiencies.  It would take maybe 20 minutes to figure out the first process.  Then, the next time, it would only take 10 minutes, then five.  We learned how to cut off unnecessary actions.

The thing about the farm is that there’s always work to be done there.  So, it doesn’t really matter which job you do, but just be employed in doing something!

#5.  Frugality:  Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

 

While Homes in Order focuses on finances and the daily value of money, Benjamin Franklin’s angle is probably more profound.  This quote implies that the value of money is in how much good it can do for either others or yourself.

I love the model in the book where Rick challenges Shawn with $100 bill and asks him how he will invest it.  I guess we could make another model based off of this slightly different angle.  “Here’s $100.  How much good can you do with it?”

Here’s $100.  How much good can you do with it?

#4.  Resolution:  Resolve to perform what you ought.  Perform without fail what you resolve.

#4 ties in with #3.  Again, I’m pretty good at task lists, but the problem I have with a task list, especially on my Google calendar and task app is that it is so easy to just reschedule tasks for later in the week.

As Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard have said, “If you have something to do today, put it not off til tomorrow.”  Procrastination isn’t a phenomenon for just our modern day and age.  It’s human nature, and it’s timeless.  Maybe the timeless part is the problem!

What about finance?  What about paying off your mortgage?  Classic example.  Everybody would like to pay off their mortgage, but few resolve to give up their vices so that they will actually do it!