(NOTE: Refreshed English is used throughout this site. See Glossary for more on RE.)
OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUÉ FROM THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE
FREESTANDING EVOLUTIONIST HAVEN OF JUSTICEA
Greetings from Justicea!
Happy 2022 to all! The Greetings from Justicea blog site is one year old this month, and we Justiceans have only just started sharing our unique and progressive culture with the outside world.
As those who are regular visitors to our site know, Justiceans use Refreshed language because we consider it more respectful and inclusive of all people — especially of wennen and those on the transgender spectrum. The etymology of words, as well as their denotative and connotative meanings, all matter a great deal to us. We are adamant in our quest to choose the exact word to convey our precise meaning.
With our culture of linguistic exactitude in mind, I thought I’d start off this year’s blog posts with a poem by Justicean poet, Justy DeForest. It addresses the vast difference in meaning between two terms that Justiceans see as being miles apart, yet which, to our dismay, seem to be used interchangeably by off-landers: Equality and Equity.
Without further ado, I give you the poem:
What is Given vs. What is Granted
Equality is given to All
by Nature.
It cannot be taken away
by Law, Religion, or Custom.
Equity is granted to Some
and denied to Some
by Those who take Power
and establish
Law, Religion, and Custom.
Whether their
establishments are
Equitable or Inequitable,
No one cannot destroy our Nature-given Equality.
Why do you think they hate us so?
No humin battle has ever been
for Equality,
but for Equity.
Why claim to fight for what has been yours since birth?
It only flatters the ego of the Persecutor
and flattens the self-esteem of the Wronged.
Do not confuse Equity with Equality.
One is a silk scarf;
The other is our very skin.
© Justy DeForest 2022
Precise Communication: A Justicean Value
As we see from the last stanza of Mx. DeForest’s poem, the difference between Equity and Equality is actually immense. Equity is as a scarf, an accessary that can be granted to us or stripped from us by the caprices of others. Not so, Equality. It is our very selves.
Perhaps it seems novel to off-landers — or absurd, or even callous — that “skin” is mentioned here to reenforce the reality of the Equality of all people. Elsewhere, skin is most often used in the attempt to claim the opposite. But to Justiceans skin is skin as love is love. And diversity only makes our lives — and our nation — richer. What we are — all of what we are — makes us humin beings, the equal of everyone we meet.
Until next time…
Peace & Siblinghood,
Justion Fairfield,
Minister of Cultural Affairs, FEH Justicea
Greetings from Justicea 