Democracy in America: HOW EQUALITY OF CONDITION CONTRIBUTES TO MAINTAIN GOOD MORALS IN AMERICA 11-4-2010 (Part 3)

 [Continued from Democracy in America: HOW EQUALITY OF CONDITION CONTRIBUTES TO MAINTAIN GOOD MORALS IN AMERICA 11-4-2010 (Part 2) sch 8/22/2023]

I see having the following having application to the Internet Age:

The tumultuous and constantly harassed life that equality makes men lead not only distracts them from the passion of love by denying them time to indulge it, but diverts them from it by another more secret but more certain road. All men who live in democratic times more or less contract the ways of thinking of the manufacturing and trading classes; their minds take a serious, deliberate, and positive turn; they are apt to relinquish the ideal in order to pursue some visible and proximate object which appears to be the natural and necessary aim of their desires. Thus the principle of equality does not destroy the imagination, but lowers its flight to the level of the earth.

I first came to the Yahoo chat rooms out of boredom and seeking the thrill of the outré. In the end, I had seen too much and along with other problems sought self-destruction. Most people I met there were also acting out of boredom – they wanted a risk without real danger; they sought a partner for a passion they had heard of but never experienced; they wanted to be something they were not. They got Westworld without killer robots. The Internet provided a safe container for their boredom-inspired risks. 

We lack the moral leadership for the masses to follow. The politicians crying loudest and most often about moral standards are found to be hypocrites. Paris Hilton videotapes herself and becomes a celebrity. Others sound like American echoes of Kinder, Kuche, Kirche. We should do better and shall need to do so. Perhaps something better if the country's economy and political structures collapsed, but it could easily also be worse. I doubt there will be another American Revolution; at least, not a democratic one. No, change must come from the people, from the community, and not from any purported leaders.

Whatever new moral consensus arises out of the community must be one that raises the minds of people. Telling no must come with “do this instead.” And that alternative must be sincere. Nancy Reagan with her just say no campaign missed the point – some people saw nothing in their lives except what was provided by drugs. People need more than good jobs to be human. American society lacks any component helping people access a more human life.

sch

[Continued in Democracy in America: HOW EQUALITY OF CONDITION CONTRIBUTES TO MAINTAIN GOOD MORALS IN AMERICA 11-4-2010 (Part 4) sch 8/22/2023.]