I am surprised with your rational thinking given that you were a professor, is it that your rational competence has eroded due to aging? Atrophy of brain cells is very natural with aging and it a question of how much and degrees.
Ending wars is not an easy task as merely clicking one’s fingers and it will be done. Existing wars entail a complex entanglement of a multitudes of variables which take time to ‘unknot’. We can judge him on his promise of ending wars in say 3 years time.
Trump had managed to secure peace between UAE and Israel which no President who attempted has succeeded [you’r ignorant of this?]. He is doing his best to achieve peace in the Middle East but again this is a very complex issue especially when Islam [inherently evil] is involved.
Propaganda site?? This is very open to fact checking and verification. Some claims may be too optimistic but I don’t hear or read of any glaring lies therein.
Due to the Covid19 pandemic, lockdown, social distancing, and other hindrances, there is an economic downturn everywhere in various degrees and there are hardly an exceptions with any Nations in the world.
Therefore you should at least judge what Trump did before the Covid19 pandemic and based on that potential, what he can do after the end of the Covid19 pandemic when a vaccine is discovered.
Why not judge his handling of the entire Covid Pandemic? The spread of it occurred during his watch. What makes one believe that once a vaccine is discovered and extensively tested for safety [on at least 3000 volunteers] that will be the end of the Corona virus? Influenza is still around. Many folks do not want to put poison inside their body, for they see that as a dangerous practice, counter to good health. They are fussy what they ingest.
I believe to judge or do an employee appraisal, one need to take all the plus and minuses, put the appropriate weight on them then make the final judgment taking all relevant information into consideration.
As I see it objectively, Trump appraisal as a government servant is net plus over minuses.
It is true, on paper, the President there is ‘no buck for the President to pass on’ thus has to bear the responsibility.
But based on information, the Covid19 infection rates and deaths has to be looked into deeper before we assign reasonable responsibilities and accountability.
It is fact the USA has the highest rate of infection and death but if we look at the total statistics State wise, those states and cities controlled by Democrats has the highest rates of infection and death.
Surely as a American you understand the Federal Government do not have full control over the health matters within the State level.
If we look world wise, Brazil, India, Russia also has millions of infections albeit lesser millions. If the USA has 6 millions infections and the second nation has less than 10,000 or even 50,000 then we can squarely condemned the US has done terribly badly.
Yes, the infection and death rates in the USA are terrible and as the President, on paper, cannot pass the buck to anyone, but then on a deeper look I would not be so blind as to blame the President solely for the Covid19 numbers in this case.
Not that anyone here cares how I feel, since this topic is not about me…
I am sadly disappointed that someone who I was thinking about asking to cooperate with me on working out a better, a more-scientifically based, Ethics model, turned out to be a Trump supporter. And thus not ethically sensitive.
For if one is ethically sensitive one early on detects phoniness, inauthenticity; and is ‘turned off’ by it. [size=48]{In all history, has a President been more selfish, more corrupt?}[/size]
When an individual identifies strongly with his own moral self, his uniqueness, his honesty, his sincerity he becomes more genuine, more moral. And as this happens the moral person is also better in his social roles (such as for example, parent, teacher engineer), and is more systematic. For he is then more integrated as a personality. [By “systematic” here I mean: more self-disciplined, better at self-management; has more emotional control; is more at peace with himself; more adaptable to changing conditions, etc.] As Dr. R. S. Hartman once observed, the more you are genuinely yourself, the better you will be in your job, in your social role, and, in your thinking.
I was willing to discuss morality, you were the one who is too impulsive to bring in Trump into the discussion.
I am not American, thus no reason to support Trump politically like you as an anti-Trump due to very strong psychological and emotional basis resulting from the Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Since you brought in Trump out of nowhere, what I have done is offering my objective views and I did not insist Trump is perfect. Personally I do like his boorish and narcissistic behaviors.
To be objective I am insisting we appraise Trump, US President or any employee in the world objectively based on their overall performances. That is the professional, rational and ethical thing to do.
In the present state around the world, the moral competence of the average person is very low since the inherent moral ‘faculty’ is unfolding very slowly.
To increase the moral competence/quotient of the average person, if say 100 point at present to 150 or 200, it will take a few or more generations in the future. Meanwhile we can only talk and discuss, thus no need to be so triggered by what Trump is doing.
Thus your present concern re Trump and the emotional stress triggered will not be very effective and thus is self-defeating. It would be more effective for you to forget about Trump totally and be mindful towards peace for oneself. [Buddhism].
In the meantime we can only talk about it but whatever the neural wirings within the brain of the average person must change to effect the increase in moral quotient.
This latter sentence serves to confirm the case made earlier. Dr. Albert Bandura writes about Moral Integration. Our extremely-objective friend may lack such integration if he beholds a man – who repeats a lie until it is a Big Lie [one that is repeated so often that gullible followers will eventually assume it to be true], and one who has authoritarian tendencies, who calls himself “a very stable genius” – " and still gives such a character high marks.
Let us study and learn: what are the attributes of ‘a good character’? And then, let’s live up to that standard, and form the habits that comprise a good character. Let’s be role-models. Let’s set a good example.
Trump despite his many negatives [which are not evil] was/is the right person for the job in then 2016 and the current situation the USA is in.
Do you deny the US was losing loads of jobs to China, Mexico and elsewhere and Obama had declared stupidly “those jobs will never come back”?
Isn’t it a fact Trump stamped his foot down and kept jobs from going abroad and brought back many of the jobs lost back to the USA?
During the Obama era, the evil laden Muslims of the Muslim brotherhood were crawling all over the White House and Trump disinfected them and cleaned them off from the White House.
Trump was aggressive with Islamist-terrorists and in concert with others got rid of ISIS’ occupation of lands and their violence in the Syria and Iraq. This is why these days we don’t read of much violence from Islamists, so you need to thank Trump for that.
Instead, there is more and more violence [BLM, Antifa] from the left as condoned by the majority of the left.
Those are some of the positive performances [among many others] of Trump which carry the heavier weights.
If the likes of Obama i.e. Hillary has won it would have been status quo and things would have gotten worse.
I don’t see Trump making up deliberately lies that had turned big that is so serious to the detriment for the USA.
Point is, in politics, politicians often making general statements instead of getting into the details. I often wish leaders would get into more details but as leaders their task is not getting into details but rather made general and broad statements.
At times, I wish Trump should be more thoughtful of his statements.
But it is the net positive of the whole package of Trump that is necessary for the optimality of the situation and thus we have to accept and bear with the negatives [which I think is not serious] that come along.
As for hardcore ethics, humanity must strive to improve the moral competence of the average person to the point we don’t have to need people like Trump to deal with and optimize the situation like it is currently.
As a patriotic American I do not think Trump is “doing a good job” for the American people: he is systematically disabling the important government agencies, placing as their head director a lobbyist from an industry that the agency was regulating – or, in the case of the Dept. of Education, placing in a Cabinet Secretary who is devoted to abolishing the public school system in favor of private schools (in which her family trust is invested.) Trump put a coal-mining executive in charge of The Interior Department, one who is selling off public lands to the mining, and to the oil-and-gas industry.
He put a former lobbyist for that industry in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency. Trump is personally profiting from being President, thereby violating our Constitution (to which he took an oath to be faithful.)
I shall vote against him. Anyone who knows Ethics, values it highly and wants to live it, will do the same.
As a patriotic American I do not think Trump is “doing a good job” for the American people: he is systematically disabling the important government agencies, placing as their head director a lobbyist from an industry that the agency was regulating – or, in the case of the Dept. of Education, placing in a Cabinet Secretary who is devoted to abolishing the public school system in favor of private schools (in which her family trust is invested.) Trump put a coal-mining executive in charge of The Interior Department, one who is selling off public lands to the mining, and to the oil-and-gas industry.
He put a former lobbyist for that industry in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency. Trump is personally profiting from being President, thereby violating our Constitution (to which he took an oath to be faithful.)
I shall vote against him. Anyone who knows Ethics, values it highly and wants to live it, will do the same.
I noted your above are very subjective views.
Do you have objective proof and evidence the above appointments [if true] are significantly detrimental to the interests of the whole of the USA.
Do you have proofs Trump is personally profiting from being President especially against the fact that he had donated his full salary to Charity.
Also given that Trump is a billionaire and his age, it would be stupid of him to profit himself for another few billions [surely he aware he cannot take that along with him to heaven?] from corruption and risk his reputation recklessly.
To be objective one need to appraise fully based in terms of employment with the proper weightage to be given to the more critical functions.
You have not done that but merely speculated which I believe is based on emotional impulses.
Did you know that the Ultimate Goal of Ethics – according to the ethical paradigm offered in the papers linked to in the References below – is a Quality Life for all.
It is having a good character and having well-being.
What is “well-being”?
It’s a life rich in meaning, one full of ‘mountain-top’ experiences and warm memories. It is quality time with those we love. It includes leisure to pursue our hobbies and freely-chosen projects. It’s getting into ‘the flow’, having some accomplishment to your credit, attaining some happiness.
A more-detailed explanation of the concept “well-being,” as understood by Dr. Martin Seligman, is given THE STRUCTURE OF ETHICS booklet. See the first link in the Signature found at the end of my earlier posts. There the author informs us that Ethics entails creating value in human relationships.
Hence, a test of an administration, or a government, is to ask with respect to it: Are the majority of its citizens closer to having a Quality Life than they were at the beginning of this administration’s term in office?
If the answer is No, then organizze, mobilize, and vote for change. …if you can still vote – if the voting system hasn’t been thrown into complete chaos by evil-doers and authoritarians.
Readers and Forum Participants: What do you think? I’d like to hear your views on any of the topics mentioned above.
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In the writings referenced in the Signature below, the author speaks of “an ethical world.” Unless we are aware of the steps that will get us there, this notion could be labeled as ‘utopian.’
It would seem that the first step to arrive at a better world - on the way to an ethical world - is to defeat the re-election of Donald J. Trump
[size=65]Throw the bums out![/size]
It remains true that to abstain from voting, to not vote, is to permit the current head of the U.S. Administration to stay in, or slide back in, for every conceivable trick to suppress the will be tried, including a legal challenge up to The Supreme Court. …thus resulting in delay and chaos.
Con anyone suggest a series of steps that lead to, or result in, an ethical world? Let’s hear your views…
In the recent post the question was asked as to what steps might bring us closer to living in an ethical world.
One step I could suggest that would have that result is to teach Ethics at the highschool level.
Now I throw it open to Readers and Participants here at the Forum: Can you come up with practical suggestions as to how the subject of fEthics may be introduced into the highschool curriculum around the United States.
Any ideas??
Do you know any teachers? … or potential teachers? Are they interested in Moral Philosophy at all; or could you get them interested?
Did you know