Young Justice and the Generational Fight for Justice
The moral case for continuing the fight for justice over time and passing it to future generations.
We all have a sense of justice.
At some point we've seen or heard or experienced something that felt wrong. When such a thing happens, we feel a sense of anger or shame at the idea that such a thing was allowed to occur. It disturbs us so much that we feel the need to make it right. For someone to come along and provide what we see as justice. This feeling is separate from things like vengeance and revenge. Justice is a willingness to move beyond such destructive actions and to provide a greater purpose. Something we can all look at and feel better about it having occurred.
No matter how many times this happens though, we often find that this need is never entirely sated. There's always more justice to be had. More things to make better and move beyond. This sense is then passed down to future generations in important ways. We so often see new generations of people rise up and demand that justice must be served. Whether it's something that previous generations have done that have harmed our current one, or if we're concerned that what's currently being done will harm future generations. It's a fundamental thing that can't simply be dismissed.
Those that attempt to do so often find themselves feeling the wrath of others. If we didn't, that wouldn't feel good to most people. But over the years, what people see is justice can evolve and change. Ideas of what is and isn't an injustice evolve and are refined from what they previously were. So it's important to ensure that what you're looking for is in fact justice. That everyone can reasonably agree with how this injustice has come about. Otherwise you run into the problem of different ideas of justice leading to future injustice.
Young Justice is at its core about how ideas of justice continue on through the generations. The way in which they evolve and become something different in a new era. While the show starts out with the creation of the team featuring a group of heroes who feel they can take on the mantle of finding justice, over time that changes. A new generation comes along ready to take up the fight. Through this rise, a clash of concepts of justice comes about, needing to find a new way to handle it. New ideas of what people need in order to feel as if justice has been served.
Of course, it doesn't stop there. With every new season of the show, another group of heroes decides to take up the fight. As a result, the struggle continues. Not just against injustice, but between those who bring it about. Only through a sustained effort of multiple generations, does a sense of what should and shouldn't be maintained as justice continue. Because there will never be a point in which such people won't ever be needed.
It's only a question of which generation will find a way to make it right.
Do yourself a favour and explore the generational fight for justice by checking out Young Justice when you can.
Young Justice is currently available on HBO Max as well as Prime Video.