The Grand Illusion
According to the dictionary, moral behavior is “concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior” and “holding or manifesting high principles for proper conduct.”
And certainly the Founding Fathers were definitely concerned about moral behavior, even if their focus was initially on white male property holders and proper (and submissive) wives, but over time that focus expanded to include women, and after the Civil War, and especially after the Civil Rights Act, minorities as well.
But what is “right behavior” or “proper conduct?” Certainly, for the first hundred and fifty years of the United States, there was an emphasis on morality, excessive at times, but without doubt there was a difference between moral and immoral behavior, and there were unspoken standards for such behavior. Even when people didn’t meet those standards, the standards remained, generally applicable to society as whole.
Those standards weren’t just confined to criminality, but to all aspects of life. In additional to being law-abiding, being “moral” required public politeness to everyone, certain standards of attire appropriate to the locale and situation, charity toward those less fortunate, at least a nod to a higher power, respect for those in authority, and polite language in public. Underlying this was the tacit or unconscious realization that such “morality” was important to hold society together.
For various reasons, this more traditional understanding of civic morality has largely vanished, exemplified by the election of Donald Trump, who, by any definition, is totally immoral and who even proposed suspending the Constitution if it suited his purposes.
Equally disturbing is the change in attitudes of younger Americans. A long-standing survey of incoming college students shows a disturbing pattern. In 1967, about 85% said that their principal goal was to develop a meaningful philosophy of life. By 2000, only 42% said that, while the majority said being financially well off was their goal, and by 2015, 82% of students said wealth was their principal aim in life.
Interestingly enough, over recent years, Americans have also become less charitable. In 2000, over two-thirds of households have to charity, but by 2018, that percentage was just below fifty percent.
While the Constitution clearly established both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, right-wing “Christians” have become increasingly vocal and effective in passing laws based on their beliefs in an effort to force their beliefs on others, failing to recognize that a society that imposes one set of religious values on the entire population by law is not a moral society, but an immoral tyranny.
While “traditional” morality had quite a few flaws, it also held the precept, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” something that current society, especially the extremists, also seems to have discarded and replaced with “me first, no matter what.”
That “me first” attitude is directly tied to the perception of how much the game is rigged in society.
In societies where corruption is endemic, following the rules is stupid and makes you a sucker. While the United States had a veneer of the rule of law for centuries, there was an underlying institutional corruption that catered to white males.
But now that the society of the United States has switched to catering to the bottom line of corporations, all kinds of individuals are starting to realize that the game is rigged. On the conservative side, they’ve fallen in love with someone that makes them think they are in on the con. On the liberal side, there’s a toothless rage against the 1% and the lawlessness of corporations.
It’s this perception on both sides that the game is rigged that leads to that “me first” attitude.
I agree on the perception. But I need help in understanding who it is that is rigging the game, and I am curious as to how they do this if not via corruption (aka “lobbying” the elected officials at every level)?
There is still a problem with our citizen lack of responsible behavior and with our emphasis on personal sovereignty without self-control.
I can’t help but wonder if the goal of “wealth” is really a goal of “stability”. I keep seeing article after article about how a growing percentage of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and other articles about how much prescription medications cost etc.
It makes sense to me that kids who grew up with that in the background want to live without those fears as much as they can, and therefore have a goal of being wealthy.
This.
It’s the logical end-result of keeping most people financially insecure and easily-exploitable for the benefit of the richest, while promoting individualism as the ideal, making it everyone’s individual responsibility to achieve security, and decrying collectivism as ‘communism’ both through words and rules.
Collective responsibility for collective resources and public care for & access to public goods have been denigrated for a long time as being bad, supposedly leading to worse outcomes than free capitalism, that a lot of people believe this unthinkingly (never mind the richest people and large corporations have captured the law-makers and heavily stacked the rules in their favor, so the free market isn’t).
No wonder people internalise the message “I need to get rich at all costs”, to save myself from homelessness, food insecurity, and dying from treatable but too-costly medical problems, and existing at the whim of those with more money and power.
I have been surprised at the number of media articles noting the increase in truancy in various school systems around the world.
School leavers seem to have different general goals now compared to even 50 years ago: they used to aim at invention, innovation, and making a name for themselves but now they are just aiming at making money. Admittedly if they make money they can then, at leisure, innovate and invent.
Maybe this is why we have at least an amoral world if not totally immoral world? This may also be the reason why pursuing ‘beliefs’, specifically religious beliefs, is of interest to the youths.
As usual this raises the question of how to adjust our goals towards constructive ends.