Quote:
Originally Posted by spence
Did you ever think the a key reason we are "successful, rich, powerful and free" is precisely because we've upheld a higher standard?-spence
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The simple answer would be NO.
But, to ramble a bit, I would say that, in my hyper-idealistic youthful days, I may have thought something like that. But having experienced actual life since then, I am now of the opinion that higher ethical standards, admirable, useful, and wonderful as they are, are a luxury afforded us by our success, not a reason for that success. The raucus, hurly-burley of the making of this country, following the bloody battle to create and the wars to sustain and expand it were filled with other than highest ethical standards.
This also seems to apply to states throughout history. Other than religious, high ethical standards were created AFTER societies struggled to exist and were fully successful in doing so. The most powerful states, AFTER successfully becoming so, created great "rules of law," great art, impressive ethics, great philosophers, and, as they abandoned their prime principle to exist AGAINST ALL THAT WOULD DESTROY THEM, and became more covetous of the beauties they created than of the brutal power that enabled all they came to prefer, they were NEEDLESSLY defeated by lesser foes who possessed a greater conviction to win. Our special (exceptional, if you will) driving force and source of power, in my opinion, is our freedom. It is what we should covet with utmost ferocity against those who would take it from us.
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