Let the Right be Done

[coberst]

Let the Right be Done

 

America politicians are the best experts available for evaluating the judgmental ability of American citizens. Watching election campaigns offer us an opportunity to quickly gauge the level of intellectual sophistication of US citizens as judged by politicians; the politicians’ expertise in all such matters determines their success or failure as a politician.

 

The father looking over the shoulder of his daughter working on her homework says. “Perhaps I can help”. She says “I’m looking for the lowest common denominator”. He, looking rather shocked, replied “Whoo! Are they still looking for that?”

 

Is democracy merely the process of seeking the lowest common denominator?

 

The two primary concepts of ethics are right and good. In the United States we give priority to right by ensconcing detailed rights in the Constitution. Good can be freely determined by each individual as long as our good does not trounce another’s rights.

 

Our government, like Lincoln’s government in the Civil War and FDR’s government in WWII, has decided to reprioritize our Constitutional rights in favor of the good that our government has determined to be in synchronization with the will of the majority.

 

The majority seems to, in periods of great stress, give priority to the good instead of the right that was determined in ‘cold blood’. I consider such action to be a weakness of democracy. What do you think about it?

[InfiniteNow]

The father looking over the shoulder of his daughter working on her homework says. “Perhaps I can help”. She says “I’m looking for the lowest common denominator”. He, looking rather shocked, replied “Whoo! Are they still looking for that?”

 

Is democracy merely the process of seeking the lowest common denominator?

Very thought provoking and timely C.

 

My initial impression is that they are looking to cover the broadest area possible under the bell curve which represents the sum total of voting citizens. To do so, the LCD is often a successful method.

 

One would hope the ideals of a democracy would be far more than an LCD, and that we elect the MCI... most capable individual. :shrug:

[coberst]

Very thought provoking and timely C.

 

One would hope the ideals of a democracy would be far more than an LCD, and that we elect the MCI... most capable individual. :shrug:

 

Is there anything we can do to more closely approach the ideal democracy?

 

I think that the more intellectually sophisticated that the average level of the population the more closely we approach the ideal.

 

Practically speaking, is the democracy we have in the US as close to the ideal as we can make it?

[InfiniteNow]

Is there anything we can do to more closely approach the ideal democracy?

I am certain of it.

 

I think that the more intellectually sophisticated that the average level of the population the more closely we approach the ideal.

This sounds good in theory, but the more intellectually sophisticated we become, the more gray things become. In fact, if we were pure simpletons, choices would be very clear, black and white, and there would be less median attention. It's our capacity to think about matters from more than one perspective that makes simple solutions so hard to achieve.

 

Practically speaking, is the democracy we have in the US as close to the ideal as we can make it?

I am certain this is not the case, but it's still a pretty good system overall.

 

I sincerely wish I could articulate a better method to support my first and third comments, but I readily admit that there's a lot of room for interpretation. :shrug:

 

Perfection is it's own pursuit, not some final destination at which one can arrive. If we keep seeking to make the system better, it is the search itself that will improve.

[Spiked Blood]

There is a subtle implication inherent in the title of this topic... I just can't figure it out..:hihi:

 

I'm not sure I understand the difference between right and good. What 'right' means and how it is different from 'good'.

[Zythryn]

The biggest issue I think we have is we have a Republic right now. No where near a true democracy.

 

Our republic also has numerous levels. We have local government, county, state and national. Corruption has the potential to happen at any level. Our current system, IMHO, has greater likelyhood at higher levels. This corruption moves us further away from a democratic republic and closer to a republic controlled by organizations with lots of money (typically corporations or conglomerates of buisnesses but not always).

 

As for the LCD, I blame marketing. I propose that the majority of the public is easily swayed by illogic and shiney topics which really shouldn't be an issue but has great marketing potential.

[coberst]

There is a subtle implication inherent in the title of this topic... I just can't figure it out..:hihi:

 

I'm not sure I understand the difference between right and good. What 'right' means and how it is different from 'good'.

 

Captain Dave will under no circumstance torture a prisoner (open morality). Captain Jim will torture a prisoner when he considers such action will save the lives of his platoon (closed morality).

 

“The two main concepts of ethics are those of the right and the good; the concept of a morally worthy person is, I believe, derived from them.” This quote and any others are from “A Theory of Justice” by John Rawls.

 

In teleological (explaining phenomena by final causes) theories of ethics the good is defined independently from the right.

 

The attitude of the individual is to seek the satisfaction of desire, more appropriately it is “the satisfaction of rational desire”. Many people find that society should be just an extension of this attitude. The good, for society, is the satisfaction of rational desire. The right is that which maximizes the good.

 

Others in society reject this utilitarian view and find that the right comes before the good and embodies a boundary for the good. The right becomes a principle that has priority over the good. In the United States the right is placed in the Constitution and each individual determines the good.

 

Captain Dave rejects the utilitarian view of morality (open morality). Captain Jim embraces the utilitarian view of morality (closed morality).

 

Morality/ethics is a matter pertaining only to the relationship between subjects and thus there is nothing objective about it. All such matters are subjective and thus relative. Religion interjects God into the matter and thus makes it a matter of absolutes for believers.

 

Many individuals think of the individual as constituted by the community to which s/he belongs—their value is dependent to a large extent upon the community. It is this interdependence upon the community that makes ideology so very potent. For the individual who embraces closed morality the ideological association is more important than to the person with an open morality.