Many Crucial Decisions Have Been Left To The Will Of The Individual. But What If The Individual Has No Will?A President lies about everything. The Senate ignores evidence to cover up a crime. Police kill innocent people, then lie to cover it up with the help of prosecutors. Companies raise the price of drugs and let people die for profit and parents bribe their idiot kids into "elite" colleges.
In America, the Honor System has been the foundation of day to day life. We do our own taxes, check out our own groceries and are asked to only take only one mint from the bowl at a restaurant.
An honor system or honesty system is a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust. Something that operates under the rule of the honor system is usually something that does not have strictly enforced rules or a law governing its principles.
Why did the Founding Father's base an entire nation on the personal moral compass of the individual? Because back then, everyone who mattered was a white man and they all had the same moral compass. 244 years later, we have a diverse nation where those same white men are now trying to topple the republic because it threatens to work for everyone.
Then as time went on, the notion that it's okay to cheat, lie and steal in some cases became pervasive in our society. We began to worship heroes who bent the law and subverted societal convention and we called them anti-heroes. In the end, they were still more good than bad, right?
So teachers cheat, politicians lie and someone empties the mint bowl at the restaurant. We choose a supreme court based on politics and not scholarship and intellect and suddenly, it's okay to deny service to gay people if it's based on "religion."
And when there is outrage, it is only because we want to hold someone else to the honor system so we may defeat them by using our own dishonor.
And I know you think this is all nothing new. You're wrong. America has never had this level of casual acceptance of bad behavior. We have always struggled with our conscience, but only now do we teach our children the art and benefit of being an asshole, only now do we have a President who got to the office by being an overt corrupt, vulgarian.
So teachers cheat, politicians lie and someone empties the mint bowl at the restaurant. We choose a supreme court based on politics and not scholarship and intellect and suddenly, it's okay to deny service to gay people if it's based on "religion."
And when there is outrage, it is only because we want to hold someone else to the honor system so we may defeat them by using our own dishonor.
And I know you think this is all nothing new. You're wrong. America has never had this level of casual acceptance of bad behavior. We have always struggled with our conscience, but only now do we teach our children the art and benefit of being an asshole, only now do we have a President who got to the office by being an overt corrupt, vulgarian.
Our favorite entertainment is filled with "complex" characters who lie, cheat, steal and murder in the name of their new ambivalent morality. Corrupt cops, murderous spies, money launderers, lonely vampires and misunderstood demons. As always, pop culture is a reflection of who we are, not what we want to be. And in each case, the honor system is not only wrecked but scoffed and laughed at as evidence of a weak mind and loser mentality.
Since the beginning of the world, people have speculated about the end of it. We always picture explosions, disease, war and violence. I think that the end, if it comes, will be quiet, soft and almost unnoticed. It will be when there is one more dishonest person than not. This will tip the balance, break the system and that's all she wrote.
In Paradise Lost, Satan, upset at being cast out of heaven, made a self-serving and pathetic pronouncement which nonetheless became the foundation of this philosophy on Earth. He said: "Evil Be Thou My good." Is this what will happen to us once we reach the tipping point?
Don't get me wrong. I do not hold people to a standard of perfection. Humanity is a delicate mix but what has built civilization is not just intellect but humanity and compassion and without those last two elements, civilization crumbles.
Man has always been more good than not and that has kept us from destroying ourselves time and time again. But if you think we have lost our way, if you believe that something is rancid in our culture, you have to look no further than what you tolerate.
Since the beginning of the world, people have speculated about the end of it. We always picture explosions, disease, war and violence. I think that the end, if it comes, will be quiet, soft and almost unnoticed. It will be when there is one more dishonest person than not. This will tip the balance, break the system and that's all she wrote.
In Paradise Lost, Satan, upset at being cast out of heaven, made a self-serving and pathetic pronouncement which nonetheless became the foundation of this philosophy on Earth. He said: "Evil Be Thou My good." Is this what will happen to us once we reach the tipping point?
Don't get me wrong. I do not hold people to a standard of perfection. Humanity is a delicate mix but what has built civilization is not just intellect but humanity and compassion and without those last two elements, civilization crumbles.
Man has always been more good than not and that has kept us from destroying ourselves time and time again. But if you think we have lost our way, if you believe that something is rancid in our culture, you have to look no further than what you tolerate.
No system of government or society can be held together by a corrupt people because where there is no honor, there is no system.
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