William David, I agree that the US is very hypocritical, but does that really matter? For one, the US government is not a monolithic entity with one mind, but is made up of many institutions and policy makers with varying priorities and goals, the membership of which changes over time. I would also agree that, at least in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, the wars were a mistake, if not in their goals then in their execution. But should hypocrisy alone be a reason not to fight for justice? Should we have not intervened in Bosnia because we didn't in Rwanda? Should we have not prevented Gaddafi from massacring thousands because oil interests played a role in the decision? I think the lesson from Leff is not that swindling is always bad, but that it shares many qualities with selling. As such, while it is important to prevent corruption from being sold as justice, it could also be useful to sell justice as self-interest.

What I think the real lessons from these wars are that justice is very complicated. By reducing complex systems to "the good" and "the bad", we may ultimately learn less about them and be worse off. While wars are an obvious example of this, I think even simpler acts often have consequences that most people do not analyze. I found the discussion earlier in this thread about being a socially conscious consumer an interesting example of this. I do not think many people who are socially conscious purchasers consider the totality of the consequences of their decisions. By buying fair trade products, it's possible to exclude farmers whose land is not productive enough to earn adequate wages. Buying organic may exclude small farmers who cannot afford certification. Preventing deforestation may take away sources of income from developing countries. What about the earlier discussion of giving land back to the remnants of native tribes that have had injustices committed against them? It certainly sells well as justice, but what is it we want to accomplish and how does it achieve that? My point is not that all these practices are wrong, but that the world is complicated and that analysis and creativity are needed to solve these problems in an effective manner. Another example I find really interesting is the backlash among some intellectuals, like in this essay, against the Kony 2012 campaign. I think it's important to make sure we really know what changes we believe in and make sure those are the ones we are accomplishing, not just use "justice" as a form of easy self-gratification, when what is actually occurring is much more complex.

-- DanielKetani - 26 Mar 2012