Author(s)

Eric D. Smaw

Department of Philosophy and Religion, Rollins College, Winter Park, USA.

In what follows, I offer philosophical analyses of the history of the United States for the purpose of demonstrating that many industries in America thrived on the enslavement, segregation, oppression, and exploitation of African-Americans. As a way of overcoming the problems of the past, I offer a five-fold solution that entails compensating the victims of oppression and exploitation, repealing the protections that shield those who engage in oppression and exploitation from criminal and civil responsibility, encouraging “whistle-blowers” to come forward and praising them as advocates of social justice when they do so, developing interpersonal relations between those who are oppressed and exploited and social justice advocates, and utilizing social justice advocates to ensure that the principles of liberty and equality, codes of ethics, and anti-discrimination laws are not violated or sacrificed for economic gains or any other reasons. In the end, I conclude with an analysis of how we might reconceive of the relations between businesses, communities, and individuals such that we can engage in social and economic development and avoid oppression and exploitation.

Compensatory Justice, Discrimination, Economic Exploitation, Medical Apartheid, Segregation, and Slavery

Smaw, E. (2016) Law and the Human Cost of Social and Economic Development. Beijing Law Review, 7, 147-157. doi: 10.4236/blr.2016.72016.