Morality - the keystone of liberty

For all of my adult life I have acted upon my moral and civic duty to defend what I believe is the most precious treasure in existence: Liberty. Part of what makes it so precious is the price paid for it in blood and vigilance. The other part of its value is its scarcity. And logically, the most significant cause of its scarcity is that, once won, it cannot be retained except through cooperation between all its beneficiaries. It can be easily stolen; is often traded for nothing more than empty promises; and is rarely appreciated except in its absence.

While I am no genius, I consider myself a reasonably perceptive person. Yet I must admit that I am entirely amazed by what appears to be our nation’s fully cognizant sanction of serfdom. It seems to me that our failure is not linked to a single character flaw or a solitary strategy, but is a combination of seemingly unrelated failures and defects. One thing that is certain to me is that the characteristics we now lack were firmly rooted in the culture of revolutionary America. Had the same characteristics been absent in our ancestors, as they are in us, we would likely now be subjects of the British Commonwealth.

I have, in other articles, made a case for the self-destructive policies of our corrupted political system. Certainly a lion’s share of the blame can be rightly laid on the steps of the Capital, White House and Supreme Court. But the collusion of evil men in power can never stand against the force of public consensus. So, while blaming the advance guard is an easy task, we must at some point assess our failure as a people to hold them accountable to the highest standards of morality, law and reason. It is in this area, that we must conduct a ruthless inventory of our complicity in the violation of the American covenant.

A laundry list of our failures and flaws includes distraction, complacence, laziness, cowardice, greed, envy, blind trust, low self esteem, selfishness and more. But it is my contention that there is a single unifying quality, whose lack allows all these faults and provides the fertile soil into which the seeds of our destruction can so easily be sown. It is the quality present in revolutionary America, noted by local and foreign observers alike as a force for public unity and stalwart courage in the face of overwhelming challenges.

That single quality is morality.

Morality is a code of conduct, based upon a specific set of values, rooted in an accurate understanding of the laws of nature and the character of Man. When one understands his or her own character and that of others; grasps the fundamental laws of nature and adheres to a set of values based upon that integrated comprehension, they are free, prosperous, harmless and cooperative with those of equal benevolence.

When one fails to comprehend even a portion of this synchronicity, they are easily confused, prone to error and are victimized by the consequences of their flawed interaction with the natural order. This relationship between reality and morality can be understood as a form of “Moral Darwinism.” It provides for a natural selection of the fittest by impartially providing positive and negative consequences directly attributable to one’s actions.

Like liberty, morality requires constant vigilance. To live as a moral person, one must constantly evaluate the consequences of his or her choices based upon a clear perception of the results they create. Since an accurate moral code delivers predictable results, we may judge our moral efficacy by the quality of responses we receive from the world. When our actions create results we do not want, we must assess the accuracy of our perceptions and understanding of reality and human nature, as well as our application of actions based upon that understanding.

Erroneous perception, flawed interpretation or inappropriate action will always result in a negative outcome. Accurate perception and understanding of reality, precise adaptation of that understanding into productive strategies and correct actions, will always result in achieving one’s desired result. This process makes up the feedback loop necessary for everything from cultivating plants to building a nuclear reactor. It also happens to apply to judging the character of a political candidate, assessing the validity of legislation and identifying the need to censure public officials who err.

Based upon this definition of morality, it is rational to deduce that the current conditions of our nation – socially, politically and economically– are the result of erroneous perceptions, faulty reasoning and flawed strategies. The proof of this deduction is the incontrovertible evidence that today, our society is more contentious, our politics are more corrupted and our economy is less prosperous and resilient than they once were. In other words, we are going in the wrong direction.

We can debate, postulate and pontificate endlessly about the superficial issues of multicultural, pluralistic social dynamics; governmental transparency, arcane legal conundrums and political accountability; financial models, monetary policy and economic sustainability; but in the end, the entire performance winnows down to a perilous lack of public moral integrity.

Accepting morality, or its lack, as the primary basis of our dilemma, leaves us with the question of how to change our course. How do we reinvigorate our national emphasis on morality? And, a more ominous question is, do we have time?

How do we, a nation of over 300 million citizens of differing religious, ethnic, cultural and linguistic origins, arrive at a consensus about moral standards; correct our course; and restore our virtue significantly enough to avert disaster in the time we have left to us?

To do this would require a miracle.

There was another miracle in American history. At a time when we had neither the economic strength and military muscle nor the communications, production or transportation infrastructure necessary to fight a war against the greatest power on Earth; we won a revolutionary conflict, formed a government and established a political and social system unequalled in all of human history for its liberty, prosperity, justice and public contentment. The single unifying factor that allowed this gift of providence was the moral consensus and mutual good will of our people.

That consensus existed in a land where there were literally dozens of different religious faiths, a wide range moral discipline from harsh austerity to the raucous decadence of libertines. Despite this diversity, the population in general was influenced by and commonly adherent to a mutual moral code. That code united people of different sects and temperaments into a culture cohesive enough to stand against indomitable odds and win. They won not only their independence from colonial England, but forged a social, political and economic system that has exercised a mostly beneficial supremacy in the world since.

So, what are the core factors of this moral consensus?

They are:

• There is an authority higher than any man, woman, institution or government. That authority may be called God, Natural Law or Reason and Truth. The name is not as important as the concept of an authority, based upon an absolute code of conduct founded in truth, justice and compassion that is impervious to any Earthly authority.

1. Most critical to this point is that there is a specific moral code to which all must adhere and against whose violation all have a duty to defend.

2. This code can be reduced to a simple constraint from doing harm in word or deed to any harmless person for any reason.

3. This code is already defined in the moral principles and specific governmental restrictions in the US Constitution, but must be strictly enforced according to a simple standard. That being: that no one has any right to interfere with any harmless behavior of any adult.

• Moral people respect this authority through obedience and gratitude for the beneficent consequences that conformity renders.

1. One expression of this respect or gratitude is to obey these moral standards, the just laws of the land, resist unjust laws, and respect the right of one’s neighbors.

2. Another expression of this respect or gratitude is to take full responsibility for one’s circumstances without demanding that others have an automatic obligation to aid them when they are in need. “My need does not constitute a legal obligation on anyone else.”

3. The highest expression of respect or gratitude is to help those less fortunate than one’s self. But only as an act of free will, aligned with one’s personal values and so as to prevent a condition of perpetual dependency upon one’s generosity.

• All men and women are ultimately judged, in this life or the next, based upon their conduct in this one. This judgment is made by the Creator in the afterlife, or in this life by the effects of their actions which result from natural law, or the justice of Man’s law:

1. The qualities of moral goodness are born of an accurate understanding of the natural and social order. Justice is rendered impartially by the natural order based on how effectively and harmlessly one interacts with that order, and how they behave towards others.

2. The guiding principles for interacting with the natural world are reason, accountability and prudence. One should take only what is needed, do no unnecessary harm to the Earth or any of its creatures. The consequences of natural law and the impartial judgment of Man’s law shall determine how well one adheres to these conditions.

3. The guiding principle for behavior towards others is the Golden Rule.

• The highest expression of moral goodness in relation to others is in requiring no one to sacrifice their time, energy, property or life to you. Also, that one accommodates no arbitrary demand to sacrifice one’s time, energy, property or life to others. This standard allows all to act only upon their own values through voluntary, enlightened self-interest.

The beauty of this moral code is that, were it to be adopted by a majority of our people, we would enjoy as close an approximation as possible to what I call “sublime anarchy.” I call it sublime, because it is the result of our alignment with the highest order of moral behavior. I call it anarchy, because our voluntary adherence to this code would allow individuals to be truly self-ruling. Under this moral code, the just exercise of law – that which is employed to protect the rights of individuals against the use of force – would be minimized to a degree that its cost and intrusiveness would be insignificant.

To the religious scholar, this list of moral standards will appear to align with the general moral values of all major religions. To the secular ethicist, these standards will meet the basic ethical requirements of peaceable, productive, dutiful citizens.

These standards have been framed in generic terminology as much as possible to promote accessibility to the widest range of ideological preferences. Given the opportunity to consider these standards, one can hope that no just and rational person will find them objectionable.

I invite those with sufficient vision to join me in affirming the possibility that we, as a race, are far from reaching the apex of our capabilities to love, understand and manifest our highest potential; and that defining our objectives in optimistic terms is a prerequisite to success.