Rawls- Two Principles of Justice

After reading through “Distributive Justice” by John Rawls, I will attempt to summarize my interpretation of the two principles of justice:
1. Any individual who is exposed to a certain type of organization should have the opportunity to succeed within the group
2. Differences spelled out within the organization’s structure are not applicable until 1) everyone benefits from the structure and 2) Advancement within the organizational structure is available to all members.

John Rawls applies the second principle of justice to social systems. Any given society will most likely favor some individuals more than others. All members are born into an established rank within the social system, leading to inherent inequality. The two principles are applicable to society only if every person benefits from the inequalities spelled out.
The second principle of justice can only succeed when everyone in the structure is affected by advancement/movement of one group member. This can be seen as a ripple effect. If a group member at the top of a social structure improves his/her expectations, the individual at the low end of the structure should too be affected. This idea promotes improvement of a group as a whole.