Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not violated but with his wrath?
- Thomas Jefferson, 1781
Bill Whittle provides an outstanding summation of morality, Christianity, self-governance and how they are woven into the fabric of America in the 8-minute Firewall video below.
If you are of a non-Christian faith or no faith at all, don't be alarmed. Give it a view and let us know what you think.
We dig the fact that he brings up good citizenship and upright behavior as the bulwark against government intrusion.
When we don't govern ourselves internally, there is always someone else who will do it for us.
See also: the myriad of social programs that have attempted to clean-up the mess caused by anti-social behavior to little or no effect.
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4 comments:
Maxine Udall writes a lot about the intersection of economics and ethics. In small market economies, local knowledge provides for a very effective control on unethical behavior on the part of business, and markets work very well. As we have grown and lost that local knowledge, and with that a general loss of social cohesion coupled with a loss of common ethical behaviors (less influence by our religions surely playing a part), we have a more difficult time making markets function free of rent seeking and corruption. Think Enron as an example. Also, if you can tolerate the writing style, Adam Smith's other book.
Steve
Merry Christmas to Beers with Demo! I still wish I knew what that meant!
Thanks, Harrison!
The title is in reference to a quote made by Brent Musberger when about 4-5 years ago ESPN won the rights to broadcast NASCAR which had some people questioning that decision, especially since Brent Musberger was going to be anchoring the broadcasts.
Musberger shot back at the critics: "I've hung out with those people - In fact, I've had 'beers with that demographic'".
It was cold, clinical and condescending and summed up perfectly Big Media's view of fly-over America.
The Figurehead is but a living relic of what was originally to be a sports blog. However, sites like Deadspin, Kissing Suzy Kolber and Everyday Should Be Saturday and, of course, the presidential campaign of 2008 altered the course and speed of this blog.
I say all this as, still, a huge Brent Musberger fan.
First post:
http://beerswithdemo.blogspot.com/2007/07/first-post.html
Cheers.
This is very detailed and informative article. Thanks for helping me solve my dilemma!
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