ive just finished reading a book "Joe Cinque's Consolation" by Helen Garner. It's about Joe who was murdered by his girlfriend, a law student from ANU. She got away with manslaughter instead of murder and a total of less than 4 years in the gaol.

the book is basically about how there wasn't justice served to the victim's parents, and is thought-provoking in terms of how the law equates to justice. Law does not seek to give people what they deserve (for who decides what is just anyway), but aims to prevent and deter potential criminals.

the world isn't fair is it? the law is based on public concensus on what justice and the right thing to do is, but how about the changes in stance on gay rights and marriages? also years ago, the accused as mentioned above would have been hanged without the judge having to give a simpler explanation of "she did it".

i remember the first time i sat in a hearing in the Supreme Court and observed the 'wig-ged' people go about their honoured duties. I thought of the system as part thereof absurd. fine, we need people to put society back into its place but now, we need others to help us to justify our rights, to fight for our claims, and fellow human beings to judge us on what we have done? Court proceedings can be likened to a drama serial accompanied by muddled acting.

in general, people place too much hope in the judicial system. do you honestly think that your barrister really believes that 'you didnt do it'? sometimes you meet the worst criminals and im sure the judge would love to cut the sweet talk short with a "a life for a life". then again, that is another issue in contention. should we hand out the death penalty for any reason?

ultimately, God is the only one who has the liberty to judge. whether or not we believe in Him, He will judge us after we die for every single thing we did, thought, or committed to. He alone can deliver the truth of justice.

in essence, the book got me thinking about society and its wicked failings. in one of the short essay questions i answered for a scholarship cum leadership program application, i wrote about how many people start working and then realise that they're caught in a rat race, but become too disillusioned to carry out their dreams of impacting society.

idealism should never run dry, neither should creativity or perseverance. however, we all just accept dont we? we accept that there is no real justice in the world, accept that most people are too busy, too self-centred and overuse the colloquialism of 'too plain tired' to do anything to aid others.

we can't pretend that the world we live in is a-okay.