Beyond Fixed Class Binary: Power as a Dynamic Real-Time Relation
A comprehensive understanding of human harm cannot rely on a simplistic, static binary of social class—such as rich versus poor, or oppressor versus oppressed. Wealthy individuals are capable of profound generosity, just as impoverished individuals are capable of devastating malice. Power is neither an immutable identity nor a permanent social status; rather, it is fluid, contextual, and constantly shifting. When assessing a moral or physical conflict, the relevant distinction is not a person’s general standing in society, but the specific power relation generated in the precise moment an act of harm occurs.
The Moment of Transgression: How the Offender Becomes the Dominant Party
In the exact instant a person chooses to inflict deliberate harm—whether through physical violence, fraud, emotional manipulation, or public defamation—they shatter their own status as a passive or vulnerable entity. Through unpredictable aggression, deception, or leverage, the perpetrator creates an immediate, asymmetrical power imbalance over their target. Regardless of how marginalized or disadvantaged the offender might be in their daily life, the act of aggression transforms them into the dominant party in that specific moment. By choosing to violate another person’s agency, autonomy, or livelihood, the perpetrator actively steps into the role of the oppressor, asserting total control over the victim’s fate.
Weaponized Vulnerability: The Sacrilege of Excusing Malice through Frailty
A particularly insidious misuse of moral and religious narrative occurs when a perpetrator invokes their general social disadvantage or “inherent weakness” to rationalize their cruelty. When an aggressor weeps before God or society, pleading that their crime was merely the inevitable byproduct of poverty, trauma, or systemic neglect, they commit a profound moral deception. This tactic weaponizes vulnerability to evade accountability. It obscures the instantaneous dominance exercised during the offense and attempts to force the victim into accepting the harm as an unavoidable accident. Using one’s general weakness as a theological or moral shield to excuse deliberate violence is an insult to justice—it strips human beings of moral agency and transforms the divine into a shelter for unrepentant abusers.
Conclusion: Act-Based Justice and True Moral Accountability
Ultimately, justice cannot be dictated by pre-assigned social labels or sentimental notions of identity. True accountability evaluates actions, not backgrounds. Whether an offender is wealthy or poor, influential or obscure, the moment they knowingly inflict irreversible harm on another, they exercise tyrannical dominance over their victim. Society must reject any moral or religious framework that allows perpetrators to hide behind their perceived frailty while leaving the ruined lives of their victims unaddressed. Authentic justice demands that we recognize the fluidity of power, hold perpetrators accountable for the instantaneous dominance they choose to wield, and center our moral duty entirely on protecting and rebuilding the lives of those who were targeted.
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