Civic virtue is an interesting subject to think about. Up to now, however, I haven’t thought much about it. It seemed to be discussed mostly by stuffy professors of ancient philosophy. I’ve also hear cranky conservatives complain about the lack of personal virtue today. So it seemed out-of-touch with my own concerns. But come to think about it, maybe the “virtue-ists” have a point or two after all.
Perhaps their most important point is that economic and governing systems can only cause “progressive outcomes” (i.e., “virtuous” outcomes like the most good for the most number) if the people involved act according to a higher, unwritten law, i.e. the law of virtue. A state can have plenty of laws and the power to carry out those laws. That will definitely keep most people in check. So perhaps some forms of virtue – the negative forms, i.e. thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not play your music loud late at night – can be imposed by force.
But the more positive forms of virtue – taking responsibility, being careful and considerate of others (Golden Rule style), helping the young and the old and the unfortunate, thinking about the greater good as well as your own good, developing and using your talents to the fullest, having courage — that sort of thing can’t be forced. But civilization needs tons and tons of it just to survive, and needs even more of it to improve over time. We can all see that we’re better off when plenty of virtuous people surround us. So how can we promote the more positive forms of civic virtue? And how can we maintain the “negative forms” (i.e., maintaining law and order) of virtue without having non-virtuous side effects (dictatorship, tyranny, police states, etc.).
When you start thinking about virtue, as I did over the past few days, you come up with a lot more questions than answers. In addition to the questions I’ve already asked, one can ask – does free-market capitalism ultimately promote or hinder virtue? Is education the “garden of virtue” – can it be? Does political freedom promote virtue? Does the mass media help people become virtuous, or just the opposite? Can virtue thrive in a highly mixed and individualist society like America today, or is a “common thread” necessary to promote virtue (e.g., Hispanics, NASCAR fans, unionized workers, Methodists, liberals, Odd Fellows, etc.)? Does poverty discourage virtue (increased crime, unstable families, more drug abuse and other irresponsible / short-term behavior) – or is poverty driven by loss of virtue within a group? And what about riches – what virtues do they erode (e.g., friendliness and sharing attitudes)? And what about big organizations – individuals arguably have some biological tendency towards virtue, but what about big government, big political parties, big corporations, big religions, big terrorism networks? Is the world more or less virtuous on average because of the tendency towards big organization in our world today?
I don’t know the answers to these questions. I do have one comment, however. When people gain a lot of power, virtue is harder to come by. History has examples of kings and barons and popes and dictators who were in fact highly concerned with making things better for their subjects. But they seem mostly to be the exceptions that prove the rule. And the rule seems to be that power corrupts. Ego becomes cancerous when bathed in the klieg lights of fame. Our modern world has created a lot of power, and that power has created a lot of powerful people – presidents, CEO’s, billionaires, governors, celebrities, religious fundamentalists, world-class athletes, etc. What’s even worse is that we now have effective techniques for the non-virtuous to appear virtuous before their vassals. Will this world retain all the power and might that it has accumulated in modern times (scientific knowledge, technology, international commerce, nuclear armies and navies, instant communications, etc.) if its leaders can’t retain the virtues that made them leaders in the first place?
Some thinkers say that the Roman Empire fell because civic virtue had eroded amidst the population. But my (admittedly rough) read of Roman history is that the Empire created a lot of economic, social and military power, creating a lot more powerful people than history had ever known. And when those people started fighting amidst themselves (due no doubt to their own virtue lapses), civilization was destined to crash. The world reset itself back to the Dark Ages, where only a few people (kings and popes) had real power. Is America’s “credit card against the future” policies, together with the threat of global warming, pushing us towards another such “civilization reset”? I do think that the western world is wiser today than it was in 500 AD. But is it wise enough to maintain virtue in the face of all the powerful forces that it has unleashed? Next time you see a child being wheeled by you in a stroller, you can think: his or her generation may well be the one that finds out.
Jim, Thinking of civic virtue, I tend to think our society is totally screwed up in almost a schizophrenic manner. For instance, people (I hear now) are encouraged to “snitch” on others who smoke where they are not supposed to, water their lawns when there are water restrictions, etc. (But I CAN see a need for serious water restrictions–and even reporting such violations–in an area around Atlanta, Georgia, where they say there is only two months left to the water table for the entire area; then there will be no drinking water available at all. I’m not talking about this kind of thing.) But I do know that in my own neighborhood people are encouraged by the Association to “tattle” on those who do not pick up after their dogs; yet each dog owner is assessed a fee just specifically to have a company come in to pick up after dogs. I wonder about the sense of that.
Then…there is the “no snitch” rule when “snitching” should be a sine que non: e.g., when a person is a witness to a serious crime. But even (I’m told) some hip hop singers have songs against “snitching” in such cases. I ask: What’s wrong with this picture??
I also think that one of the REAL problems with so many individuals today is that the word(s) “self-discipline” are not only not in their vocabulary, they are not in any dictionary they may have. (As a side comment: I think that a great deal of the ADD/ADHD, etc., that seems to be an epidemic in young people could easily be nipped in the bud if children were taught from little on that they exercise some “self-discipline” in not responding to absolutely every stimulus that crosses their purview. If children were taught simple concentration on a task (e.g., reading), much of the ADHD, etc., would be eliminated, IMHO.
As to the particular kind of society we have, I do not think that “virtue” is limited to any economic class. Think of the incredibly “unvirtuous” acts of some of the very rich–and blatantly on TV. Examples: Trump and his implied–oozing out of every pore and every minute of his presence on TV–that “virtue” consists of how much money one has and how one lords it over others.
As to the institutions of society having any real influence on people’s virtue: I think it’s obvious they do not. People tend to do what they want; sadly to disastrous results often.
Then too some people of all economic classes are totally miserable people; some people of all economic classes exhibit marvelous examples of heroic virtue.
I do agree with you that Lord Acton was right: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
As to leaders and the “virtues that made them leaders”: How would this statement apply to Hitler, Stalin? To a lesser extent, how would it apply to some of our current leaders who seem to be unable to grasp reality: e.g., we are winning the war in Iraq; or get out of training in the Nat’l Guard; then require those who are in the Nat’l Guard to fight a war–when the Nat’l Guard was not established to fight wars primarily but to benefit the state to which it is attached. In fact, (again IMHO) Carter was one of the more “virtuous” presidents; but he really was not a good president. Then again, others, obviously lacking in this or that (or more) virtues, were much better presidents.
And one last comment: (Again, IMHO), the “western world is wiser today” only in technological and scientific areas. I don’t know if we can really say that in the sense of “virtue” we are really any better than people were in 500 AD.
Which leads me to something I read recently from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He said (I paraphrase) that when the world really discovers LOVE (not in the sentimental, “feel good” sense, but in the REAL sense of putting one’s money where one’s mouth is) the world will have once again discovered fire. I’ve been thinking about that recently, and I can’t help but think how right he was–way back during World War ONE when he wrote that.
One last comment: It seems to me that all one has to do is pay attention t
Comment by Anonymous — October 16, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
Jim, Thinking of civic virtue, I tend to think our society is totally screwed up in almost a schizophrenic manner. For instance, people (I hear now) are encouraged to “snitch” on others who smoke where they are not supposed to, water their lawns when there are water restrictions, etc. (But I CAN see a need for serious water restrictions–and even reporting such violations–in an area around Atlanta, Georgia, where they say there is only two months left to the water table for the entire area; then there will be no drinking water available at all. I’m not talking about this kind of thing.) But I do know that in my own neighborhood people are encouraged by the Association to “tattle” on those who do not pick up after their dogs; yet each dog owner is assessed a fee just specifically to have a company come in to pick up after dogs. I wonder about the sense of that.
Then…there is the “no snitch” rule when “snitching” should be a sine que non: e.g., when a person is a witness to a serious crime. But even (I’m told) some hip hop singers have songs against “snitching” in such cases. I ask: What’s wrong with this picture??
I also think that one of the REAL problems with so many individuals today is that the word(s) “self-discipline” are not only not in their vocabulary, they are not in any dictionary they may have. (As a side comment: I think that a great deal of the ADD/ADHD, etc., that seems to be an epidemic in young people could easily be nipped in the bud if children were taught from little on that they exercise some “self-discipline” in not responding to absolutely every stimulus that crosses their purview. If children were taught simple concentration on a task (e.g., reading), much of the ADHD, etc., would be eliminated, IMHO.
As to the particular kind of society we have, I do not think that “virtue” is limited to any economic class. Think of the incredibly “unvirtuous” acts of some of the very rich–and blatantly on TV. Examples: Trump and his implied–oozing out of every pore and every minute of his presence on TV–that “virtue” consists of how much money one has and how one lords it over others.
As to the institutions of society having any real influence on people’s virtue: I think it’s obvious they do not. People tend to do what they want; sadly to disastrous results often.
Then too some people of all economic classes are totally miserable people; some people of all economic classes exhibit marvelous examples of heroic virtue.
I do agree with you that Lord Acton was right: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
As to leaders and the “virtues that made them leaders”: How would this statement apply to Hitler, Stalin? To a lesser extent, how would it apply to some of our current leaders who seem to be unable to grasp reality: e.g., we are winning the war in Iraq; or get out of training in the Nat’l Guard; then require those who are in the Nat’l Guard to fight a war–when the Nat’l Guard was not established to fight wars primarily but to benefit the state to which it is attached. In fact, (again IMHO) Carter was one of the more “virtuous” presidents; but he really was not a good president. Then again, others, obviously lacking in this or that (or more) virtues, were much better presidents.
And one last comment: (Again, IMHO), the “western world is wiser today” only in technological and scientific areas. I don’t know if we can really say that in the sense of “virtue” we are really any better than people were in 500 AD.
Which leads me to something I read recently from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He said (I paraphrase) that when the world really discovers LOVE (not in the sentimental, “feel good” sense, but in the REAL sense of putting one’s money where one’s mouth is) the world will have once again discovered fire. I’ve been thinking about that recently, and I can’t help but think how right he was–way back during World War ONE when he wrote that.
One last comment: It seems to me that all one has to do is pay attention to advertisements. Almost all of them have something directed to YOU, YOU, YOU. Thus, ads that so manipulate the population set the individual before all else. No wonder there is no discipline, no virtue; virtue seems to have become–do for ME; I’m the only one who counts. A disastrous approach with disastrous results.
Mary Sheridan
Comment by Anonymous — October 16, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
Jim, Thinking of civic virtue, I tend to think our society is totally screwed up in almost a schizophrenic manner. For instance, people (I hear now) are encouraged to “snitch” on others who smoke where they are not supposed to, water their lawns when there are water restrictions, etc. (But I CAN see a need for serious water restrictions–and even reporting such violations–in an area around Atlanta, Georgia, where they say there is only two months left to the water table for the entire area; then there will be no drinking water available at all. I’m not talking about this kind of thing.) But I do know that in my own neighborhood people are encouraged by the Association to “tattle” on those who do not pick up after their dogs; yet each dog owner is assessed a fee just specifically to have a company come in to pick up after dogs. I wonder about the sense of that.
Then…there is the “no snitch” rule when “snitching” should be a sine que non: e.g., when a person is a witness to a serious crime. But even (I’m told) some hip hop singers have songs against “snitching” in such cases. I ask: What’s wrong with this picture??
I also think that one of the REAL problems with so many individuals today is that the word(s) “self-discipline” are not only not in their vocabulary, they are not in any dictionary they may have. (As a side comment: I think that a great deal of the ADD/ADHD, etc., that seems to be an epidemic in young people could easily be nipped in the bud if children were taught from little on that they exercise some “self-discipline” in not responding to absolutely every stimulus that crosses their purview. If children were taught simple concentration on a task (e.g., reading), much of the ADHD, etc., would be eliminated, IMHO.
As to the particular kind of society we have, I do not think that “virtue” is limited to any economic class. Think of the incredibly “unvirtuous” acts of some of the very rich–and blatantly on TV. Examples: Trump and his implied–oozing out of every pore and every minute of his presence on TV–that “virtue” consists of how much money one has and how one lords it over others.
As to the institutions of society having any real influence on people’s virtue: I think it’s obvious they do not. People tend to do what they want; sadly to disastrous results often.
Then too some people of all economic classes are totally miserable people; some people of all economic classes exhibit marvelous examples of heroic virtue.
I do agree with you that Lord Acton was right: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
As to leaders and the “virtues that made them leaders”: How would this statement apply to Hitler, Stalin? To a lesser extent, how would it apply to some of our current leaders who seem to be unable to grasp reality: e.g., we are winning the war in Iraq; or get out of training in the Nat’l Guard; then require those who are in the Nat’l Guard to fight a war–when the Nat’l Guard was not established to fight wars primarily but to benefit the state to which it is attached. In fact, (again IMHO) Carter was one of the more “virtuous” presidents; but he really was not a good president. Then again, others, obviously lacking in this or that (or more) virtues, were much better presidents.
And one last comment: (Again, IMHO), the “western world is wiser today” only in technological and scientific areas. I don’t know if we can really say that in the sense of “virtue” we are really any better than people were in 500 AD.
Which leads me to something I read recently from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He said (I paraphrase) that when the world really discovers LOVE (not in the sentimental, “feel good” sense, but in the REAL sense of putting one’s money where one’s mouth is) the world will have once again discovered fire. I’ve been thinking about that recently, and I can’t help but think how right he was–way back during World War ONE when he wrote that.
One last comment: It seems to me that all one has to do is pay attention t
Comment by Anonymous — October 16, 2007 @ 3:40 pm