Master and Servant

In order to get anything done cooperatively, it is required there be a certain amount of servitude. We have to submit ourselves to others in some ways and take charge in others. There's nothing bad either way, serving or leading, as long as it is done with good character. What good character brings to the transaction is justice. Lets look at cooperation and justice; how they work together.

Justice as a concept means that a person is rewarded for what he puts into action. Action requires time and effort. It has a negative context where wickedness deserves punishment and a positive where goodness deserves reward. We have an innate drive that wants to see things balance out. It isn't as easy as it looks since we don't often know particulars or motives. But we all agree that the standards should be the same for everyone. That is what is meant by "all men are created equal". Sometimes we wish for injustices to be overlooked because we care for a person. This is the application of grace. As a general rule, people want more grace for themselves than for others. But the purpose of government is to bring justice to the transactions between people.

Someone has to lead in order for a goal to be reached. A strong leader will use justice as a guiding principle for all he does and won't demand more than he deserves for his part in the transaction. He will reward those who do well and try to raise up those who don't. Sometimes it takes encouragement and sometimes it requires punishment; this depends on the particulars and motives. In every transaction, there are also boundaries. A boss has no authority over a person's private life. Tyranny is nothing more that the assumption of authority beyond the scope of a relationship.  As servants head in the right direction, less authority has to be asserted.

We all serve each other in different areas. A good servant will  be just and won't take more than what he deserves for his efforts. He will have no problem doing what he is told when it is within his scope of work. A good servant will go above and beyond. An injustice occurs when he expects reward with little effort.

A master is oriented toward the big picture or the whole. You can say he has full opportunity and potential of action. A servant is only has a part in it. The servant assists the master in accomplishing his goals and his scope is narrow. There is a just exchange that they work out between themselves.

When we form the social structure of a civil government, we first want to define and limit the scope. It should operate to bring justice to every transaction. We must determine who will be the masters. When the people are the masters, the politicians will be servants with a limited scope of actions. They are assigned to assist individuals in accomplishing their goals. Individuals will be the ones with unlimited potential. When politicians are masters, they are interested in greatness according to their world view while the people become servants with limited actions.