"Right Thing, Right Now" by Ryan Holiday

It is in the Mandawat clan to be courageous, disciplined, just, and wise! And that's what attracted me to this book. My mother is lawyer, and as we were growing up she taught us what justice meant:

1. Justice isn’t about the law or politics. It’s not about what’s legal, it’s about what’s right.
2. Justice is simple. We all have a gut feel for what’s right in almost any situation. “We admire those who keep their word,” Ryan writes. “We hate liars and cheats. We celebrate those who sacrifice for the common good, [and we] abhor those who grow rich or famous at the expense of others.”
3. Justice is not something we have, get, or are robbed of. Justice is something we practice every day. A habit to improve, no matter how imperfect our starting position. Justice is a verb, not a noun!

Want to become more just? Here’s how to practice justice in 3 arenas, “the Me, the We, and the All,” as Holiday calls them:

1. Justice begins with you — so choose your own moral code, and stick to it

From becoming world-famous as a teenager to drug scandals and domestic abuse, Shia LaBeouf fell far from grace.?In 2022, he resurfaced in a viral interview, vulnerably sharing his rehab journey and trying to make amends. Someone said they saw him pay for a family’s groceries, then sneak out the back so no one would know. Though far from perfect, it seems Shia has come a long way — and while not everyone can pay others’ bills, everyone can choose this kind of justice

“The pursuit of justice begins with you,” Ryan writes.?Legally, culturally, we might be able to get away with all kinds of stuff, but to be a good person, we should “choose to adhere to our own code.” What principles might your code contain? Ryan has ideas:

Keep the promises you make
Tell the truth and be an open book
Whatever your job, do it as best as you can
Focus on being consistently good instead of trying too hard to be great
Protect your integrity, be loyal, and choose a North Star to work towards        

Initially, your code might feel limiting. But in the long run, “our code frees us, gives us meaning, and, most of all, makes a positive difference.”

2. Justice only has meaning when we practice it for others, so do right by everyone you come across

Right in his inauguration speech as governor in 1971, Jimmy Carter said “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Mere hours later, he started working on another pressing issue: a universal pardon for Vietnam War evaders. The idea wasn’t popular, but Carter pushed ahead. This and other policies later cost him a second term as president — but he did what he could while he could.

“The clearest evidence that justice is the most important of all the virtues comes from what happens when you remove it,” Ryan writes. Imagine someone with lots of courage, discipline, or wisdom…who then uses those traits for evil and personal gain. “There is no virtue to counterbalance justice.” Why? Because justice’s true meaning only unfolds in a group of humans.

The main reason we should try hard to be fair, forthright, and friendly is so we can better life and the world for others. For the people we love. For the people we know. Even for the people we don’t know and never will. How?

Be kind, keep giving, and help wherever you see help being needed
Don’t be afraid to start small
Make the good kind of trouble, but be pragmatic about how we’ll get there
“Just keep going back,” like Raphael Lemkin, who gave 3,000 speeches until the UN and US finally outlawed genocide        

3. Expand your definition of justice to include everything and everyone

[Mahatma] Gandhi?held no office. He didn’t have an army, nor a fortune. Still, time and again, he prevailed. First in making life more endurable for Indians in South Africa, then with his hunger strikes, and ultimately his Salt March.

We might remember him as a saint, but Gandhi was still human. He stole money from his brother at a young age. He missed his father’s death because he was making love to his wife. But once he realized that every person, indeed every animal, plant, and living thing, is equal, there was no turning back.

You and I might never liberate a nation, but we, too, should expand our understanding of justice, Ryan believes:

Give other people hope when they need it the most, even if all you can offer is a smile
Forgive everything you can forgive, and make amends for what you wish to be forgiven for
Believe there’s good in everyone, that love always wins, and pay it forward        

“No one throws you a parade when you do the right thing,” Ryan writes, but that doesn’t make being just worth any less. Return to good books, good movies, and other people’s example when you need it — and then keep doing the right thing, right now.

Let’s do the Right Thing, Right Now!