SOCIAL MORALITY
Can we talk about something important?
Words can have meaning. Other times they are meaningless. It is in the realm of modern social morality where both can be true.
We can talk about the value of people, but in the same sentence proclaim that some people matter more than others merely because that group was mistreated in the past. Yet basing it only on past wrongs misses the whole point. That is because there is one group of people being mistreated RIGHT NOW. The Uyghurs (some spell it Uighurs) in China are racially and spiritually different and they are being mistreated. Yet almost no one in the Western world gives a hoot. No one is taking up their cause or demanding fair treatment. If we don’t care about them, then our words about the value of people (even people who have difficulty because of racism in America) are false. Our political push for equal outcomes in America ring hollow when there are peoples who don’t even have equal opportunities in their own nation on another piece of the globe.
We proclaim that slavery was absolutely wrong earlier in our nation’s history, but at the same time fully engage in trade with countries which not only allow it, but practice it. (India and China, for a couple examples). We proclaim that human trafficking is evil, yet we proudly proclaim that a person CAN choose to become trafficked (be a prostitute or act in a porn movie) and that’s OK. No its not! They both can’t be true at the same time. Just because a person is being paid to perform sexually doesn’t mean it isn’t trafficking. We speak out of both sides of our mouths on these (and many other) moral issues.
Here’s a tiny example: We allow people to purchase differently priced tickets for the same flight, based upon their desire for “business class” or even a “window seat,” then we pressure them to give up that paid-for perk simply just because a “family” who bought lower-priced tickets wants to sit together. The person who paid more is pressured to “be pushed to the back of the bus.” Isn’t that exactly what is happening on flights and trains? Didn’t we do away with this kind of “ism” mere decades ago? It is now “you don’t deserve” your paid choice BECAUSE … you are rich and intelligent, or white and female, or old and a minority.
Is there a reason we are so wishy-washy when it comes to moral issues?
Yes.
If there is nothing concrete about our morality then we all get to make up our own rules. Some dislike the US Constitution for the same reason … it restricts the available choices. I, for one, am grateful for those standards. They protect citizens from a tyrannical government.
So we have become wishy-washy when it comes to morality. I think there is at least one reason. That is we have abandoned every solid basis for ethical decisions. In the now-distant past morality was based on the foundation of the church, the Bible, long-established standards, and carefully defined law. If the Bible said that we were not to steal, we didn’t need a “law” to know it to be true. It wasn’t based on “modern-day” ethics or newly accepted norms. It was based on thousands of years of agreed-upon concepts. No one knows on what base modern morality is built. In fact, morality now tends toward fluidity.
So, a score or more years ago it was agreed that women should be given equality with men. That things should be more-than-fair for women. In recent years we have made a new group of people even more important than women, … trans. Now women are “out” and can be dissed if someone is elevating a trans person. Women no longer deserve special consideration like they did a mere 10 years ago. White males have lost importance in society. And if they are protestant, it reduces their value another grade, unless they are trans. We have made trans (and the whole alphabet of sexuality) more important than male, female, black, Hispanic, educated, or almost any other group of society. When the goalposts keep moving around you know you aren’t playing a game anymore.
It used to be that morals were based on solid footing. Everyone knew the rules. The rules did not change every few years. Everyone knew how to play.
Rules have been replaced by agendas. Standards have lost their footing. The result is that no one knows what the “rules” will be next year, or even next week.
So modern morality is based on “AGENDA.” Agenda morality is based on whoever has the best PR Firm. The PR firm comes up with new “language,” or new meanings for the language we have. A person can no longer be “gay” if they are happy and for no other reason. That word now means something else. The poor Asian with the last name “Tran” is now stigmatized doubly because some think they are “trans.” “Negro” was changed to “black” but is now something else. Can I have a clue what that might be this week? The first point is to confuse. Then castrate those who don’t “play along.” Like styles of clothing the social game keeps changing rapidly.
Modern morality is based on agenda. Agenda is based on PR. Money builds the best PR, and those involved reap financial and other rewards for pushing it. Result: Morality now is a form of capitalism. Mulvaney wasn’t an outlier. Target gave up women’s rights over a decade ago in order to build their business. Thus, modern “morality” is just another word for “profit.” Profit and power create monopolies which are too big to be fought. Like has happened with other monopolies the results will be horrific. The people at the top have everything, those at the bottom have nothing. How’s that for equality of “outcomes?”
I submit there is no longer ANY “normal” morality. What we have left is agenda, profit, and power. Those in power determine what is moral and ethical. But absolute power does what in the end?
Complaining does no good. We need a solution. Going forward is useless. When you get stuck in a snowbank someone has to put chains on you and pull you out. That’s the solution here. The only and best way forward is to go backward. Call it “The Great U-Turn” if you like. There are times when you MUST retreat and go back to when it all made sense. Let’s do that sooner than later, hey!
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
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