The Swain Justice Equation — v1.0
A Moral Framework for Repair, Belonging, and the World We Leave Behind
First Updated: February 2025
Last Updated: November 16, 2025
All definitions and concepts are original work by Christopher Swain.
⸻
Introduction
The Swain Justice Equation is the philosophical backbone of my work — a simple, human, embodied way to understand how individual actions lead toward collective healing, and how our care for each other and for the living world can become the inheritance we leave to future generations.
This equation guides everything I do:
my repair projects,
my storytelling,
my community partnerships,
my funding architecture,
and my vision for the world we are building together.
It is not a theory.
It is a practice.
It is a way of moving through the world with intention.
⸻
The Swain Justice Equation
Justice = Courage + Care + Repair
This is the pathway — the moral sequence — through which healing becomes possible.
Justice is not a policy or an abstraction.
Justice is the downstream result of embodied actions we take now:
acts of courage,
acts of care,
acts of repair.
Justice is the world those actions create.
Below are the full definitions for each element.
⸻
Courage
Courage = taking right action on behalf of the living world and each other.
Courage is not the absence of fear.
It is the choice to act in the presence of fear —
to step across thresholds
before it is easy,
before it is comfortable,
and before the world gives permission.
Courage is physical.
Emotional.
Spiritual.
It is devotion made visible.
Courage is the water I swim in.
Courage is the prayer of my body, and the foundation of repair.
Courage initiates the work.
It is where transformation begins.
⸻
Care
Care = opening our hearts to each other and to the living world.
Care is love in motion:
tending to what is vulnerable,
protecting what is sacred,
and honoring our interdependence.
Care is not sentimental. It is structural.
It is the daily practice of creating relationships that sustain life: human life, non-human life, community life.
Care is how we remember we belong to the world, and that the world belongs to those who come after.
Care connects us.
It strengthens the bonds we rely on.
It is the emotional foundation that makes repair possible.
⸻
Repair
Repair = healing wounds across generations and ecosystems.
Repair is the work of mending what has been harmed: in the land, in the waters, in our communities, in our histories, in each other, and in ourselves.
Repair is not symbolic. It is physical, relational, ecological, emotional, structural, and intergenerational.
Repair restores harmony and launches healing in all directions: past, present, and future.
Repair does not erase harm. It acknowledges harm—and then devotes itself to healing.
Repair is where transformation begins.
⸻
Justice
Justice = Courage + Care + Repair.
Justice is what flows from Courage, Care, and Repair, the way a river flows toward the sea.
Justice is a downstream gift—a world made safe and whole, so future generations can live in beauty and belonging.
Justice is not retribution.
It is restoration.
It is continuity.
It is belonging made durable across time.
It is the world we hand forward.
Justice is the downstream gift of a life lived with courage, care, and repair.
⸻
Why This Equation Exists
Because the world does not need more abstractions.
It needs a way of acting,
a way of relating,
a way of healing.
Because justice cannot be reduced to a legal term.
Justice must be something we create —
river by river,
story by story,
community by community,
generation by generation.
Because future generations deserve
a living world
that is safe,
beautiful,
whole,
and full of belonging.
⸻
How the Equation Guides My Work
This equation is my compass.
It is the orientation of my life’s work.
It is how I measure my contribution.
The Swain Justice Equation anchors:
• the Living World Justice Funds
• Corporate Social Justice Certification
• Climate Impact Units
• the “Repair > Offsets” model
• community partnership frameworks
• repair projects beginning in the Delaware watershed
• the Living World Archive
• long-term strategy
• storytelling, film, and testimony
• the entire arc of my work
Every potential project must answer one question:
Would this project advance Courage, Care, Repair, or Justice for the living world and the generations to come?
If the answer is no, I do not do it.
⸻
What This Equation Makes Possible
This framework enables:
• repair as a public practice
• new forms of corporate responsibility
• community-led justice
• intergenerational thinking
• transparent climate repair metrics (CIUs)
• storytelling as a tool for healing
• new financial architectures
• cross-community cooperation
• continuity across generations
It is simple enough to guide a single person and strong enough to guide a movement.
⸻
Citation
Swain, Christopher. “The Swain Justice Equation — v1.0.”
SwimWithSwain.org/swain-justice-equation (February 2025).
⸻
Versioning
This is Version 1.0.
As the work evolves, definitions and refinements will be updated.