What is morality?
What are ethics?
How are we suppose to act/behave with our fellow human being?
One notion is the notion that the law is what we are suppose to follow…
Whatever is the law is the correct way to act/behave……
But that Truism means that if slavery is the law, then slavery is the correct
way to behave/act. Then if the law is the final criteria, then all sorts
of acts/behavior is allowed… for in the history of human beings,
all sorts of behavior was legal and justified… The concentration camps
of Hitler was legal, the forced sterilization of human beings with “defects”
was legal, the banning of marriage between white’s and black’s was legal
and in fact, was legal until 1967 in Virginia… during my lifetime…
the Jim Crow laws of the deep south was also legal in my lifetime…
You cannot justify the legality of the law with morality or ethics because
the law quite often is used to enforce unethical and immoral actions.
For example, today the laws are used to justify the murder of citizens
of this country by police officers. Murder is allowed by the law, our law.
You cannot use the law as some basis for a morality, for an ethics……
This is an example of GI. GO… we give lip service to the idea of
morality, justice with an example of how the law is the basis of
morals or ethics, when in fact, we cannot use the law as an basis
of morality or ethics.
So upon what basis should we use to have morality/ethics?
Religion? We have many who claim that America is a “Christian”
country and yet, and yet, we have many who don’t even offer up
lip service to “Christian ideals” anymore……… We had an fox news
type, her name was Tomi Lahren, saying her that watching
migrants getting hit by tear gas was the “highlight” of her
Thanksgiving weekend… and I am sure Mrs. Lehren considers
herself a “Christian” and yet, her views, not by any standard
given in the bible, can be considered to be a “Christian”.
This double standard, this dichotomy, this contradiction between
one’s stated views and one’s action are the result of what I have
called… GI… GO……
The garbage in, is the myths, superstitions, biases, prejudices
of family, state, church, media of childhood indoctrinations…
and without any attempt to overcome that GI, leaves us with the GO
the garbage out of believing on thanksgiving weekend that
tear gassing innocent women and children can “make” a weekend.
Mrs. Lerhren is just another example, of which one can create
“ad nauseam” from conservatives. In fact, if ask for a definition
of a conservative, one could, with ample justification,
simple say this, “A conservative is one who practices a double standard”.
and the basis of their double standard is GI, GO.
They haven’t been able to or are unable to free themselves
of the garbage that was their childhood indoctrinations.
As to the answer to the question, what is the basis of morality if
it isn’t the laws, can never be answered by an conservative because
they are too tied into their unacknowledged and unexamined
belief system. They hold to their GI, GO without any doubt or
understanding of what it means to hold onto the unexamined
GI. GO.
The conservative lacks the courage for an attack upon their
belief system, no, they pride themselves upon their courage of
their beliefs and therein lies their failure.
So upon what basis should our morality, our ethics be based on,
if not religion or, or the law?
Kropotkin