Subjective morality
Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 5:20 pm
Morality is subjective but this subjectivity should not limit a true moral society.
Here I will argue in favor of a moral just society with as much personal/individual liberty as practically possible.
Morality in theory:
If life is only about survival - and gaining more and more power is essential to your own survival - overcoming empathy, compassion, faith etc. will give you unlimited power in terms of your own conscience (which is zero) - only your environment and your physical and social capacities will limit your power over other people and yourself.
However, if everyone were like this, that is losing emapthy, compassion, conscience, morality - we would be in eternal war with each other or at the very least have to be suspecious of every other individual in our lives, as anyone are potential enemies. This creates too many stressors and limit our creative and technological capabilities, also it will have devastating effects on our own immune systems and overall well-being and health. This is not good for our survival.
So let's instead agree on not exploiting each other and live in peace and harmony, mind our own business as long as our neighbor do not put us in any kind of danger or annoyance.
Applying morality:
Actually a lot of stuff in our society affects all of us. All our actions will affect someone else. That is why we should be governed by laws. But there is no reason to have those laws intervene mora than is absolutely neccessary. For example, limiting our freedom of speech in favor of illegalizing blasphemy is unneccessary. It is also unneccessary to ban black, white, yellow or red people from having a say in government affairs and society in general - apartheid is unneccessary and so are forced religious rituals - like that of circumcision. Even the parents of a children should not be able to force their own children to be circumcised. The children should have their own choice of their own body, so long as there are no health-related neccessary reasons to circumcise or do any other invasive procedures. Religious faith of parents is not good enough excuse for such practice being forced by the parents on their children.
Some things can be argued of neccessity to have a working society - like that of conscription or work duty. But such duties limit the freedom of individuals and often such duties do not account for the individual limits or capabilities of the individuals being forced into such institutions and so should likewise not happen in a moral just society. Instead we should seek other less intervening methods to make people work/contribute to society.
We need to pay taxes - the society should have a government, and a government requires money. We need to re-distribute the money to those in need. Needs of individuals should be solely decided by experts - like doctors documenting the needs of patients. Those experts should be certified by the state. The state should consist of independent bodies. The judges should not be part of the government/administration or elected by it, nor of the parliament. The parliament should be separated from the administration and the different departments/ministries should be held accountable for the functioning of the government and the decisions made by the government.
The government should be composed of representatives elected by the people. Every citizen with permanent residence above the age of 18 should have the right to vote and nobody should be deprived the right to vote - not even as a result of crime or government subsidies/welfare benefits.
No single person should have power alone as a president. At best, a just society is one that only has a Prime Minister without a monarchy.
Declaring war and making peace should be negotiated by the parliament and voted on in the parliament. All laws - and no decrees should be made solely by the parliament. The head of state should never be able to veto on laws.
Working society:
While everything in this world can ultimately be subject to fraud, we are way better off trusting in the documentation of experts than to suspect anyone recieving government benefits to commit social fraud.
This is why Basic Income is such a good idea. It should of course be combined with Neccessity Benefits for the needy. Nobody should be forced to work against their will, but everyone should be encouraged to contribute positively to society. Only through trust in goodness of man can a positive society emerge and only through this way can we break the evil circle of suspecion, war, exploitation.
So let me suggest a liberal left wing society, to accomplish this dream.
However, if you do believe in torturing innocents and perpetual war, surveillance society and police state - I understand if you disagree. But I do hope your are a clear minority.
Here I will argue in favor of a moral just society with as much personal/individual liberty as practically possible.
Morality in theory:
If life is only about survival - and gaining more and more power is essential to your own survival - overcoming empathy, compassion, faith etc. will give you unlimited power in terms of your own conscience (which is zero) - only your environment and your physical and social capacities will limit your power over other people and yourself.
However, if everyone were like this, that is losing emapthy, compassion, conscience, morality - we would be in eternal war with each other or at the very least have to be suspecious of every other individual in our lives, as anyone are potential enemies. This creates too many stressors and limit our creative and technological capabilities, also it will have devastating effects on our own immune systems and overall well-being and health. This is not good for our survival.
So let's instead agree on not exploiting each other and live in peace and harmony, mind our own business as long as our neighbor do not put us in any kind of danger or annoyance.
Applying morality:
Actually a lot of stuff in our society affects all of us. All our actions will affect someone else. That is why we should be governed by laws. But there is no reason to have those laws intervene mora than is absolutely neccessary. For example, limiting our freedom of speech in favor of illegalizing blasphemy is unneccessary. It is also unneccessary to ban black, white, yellow or red people from having a say in government affairs and society in general - apartheid is unneccessary and so are forced religious rituals - like that of circumcision. Even the parents of a children should not be able to force their own children to be circumcised. The children should have their own choice of their own body, so long as there are no health-related neccessary reasons to circumcise or do any other invasive procedures. Religious faith of parents is not good enough excuse for such practice being forced by the parents on their children.
Some things can be argued of neccessity to have a working society - like that of conscription or work duty. But such duties limit the freedom of individuals and often such duties do not account for the individual limits or capabilities of the individuals being forced into such institutions and so should likewise not happen in a moral just society. Instead we should seek other less intervening methods to make people work/contribute to society.
We need to pay taxes - the society should have a government, and a government requires money. We need to re-distribute the money to those in need. Needs of individuals should be solely decided by experts - like doctors documenting the needs of patients. Those experts should be certified by the state. The state should consist of independent bodies. The judges should not be part of the government/administration or elected by it, nor of the parliament. The parliament should be separated from the administration and the different departments/ministries should be held accountable for the functioning of the government and the decisions made by the government.
The government should be composed of representatives elected by the people. Every citizen with permanent residence above the age of 18 should have the right to vote and nobody should be deprived the right to vote - not even as a result of crime or government subsidies/welfare benefits.
No single person should have power alone as a president. At best, a just society is one that only has a Prime Minister without a monarchy.
Declaring war and making peace should be negotiated by the parliament and voted on in the parliament. All laws - and no decrees should be made solely by the parliament. The head of state should never be able to veto on laws.
Working society:
While everything in this world can ultimately be subject to fraud, we are way better off trusting in the documentation of experts than to suspect anyone recieving government benefits to commit social fraud.
This is why Basic Income is such a good idea. It should of course be combined with Neccessity Benefits for the needy. Nobody should be forced to work against their will, but everyone should be encouraged to contribute positively to society. Only through trust in goodness of man can a positive society emerge and only through this way can we break the evil circle of suspecion, war, exploitation.
So let me suggest a liberal left wing society, to accomplish this dream.
However, if you do believe in torturing innocents and perpetual war, surveillance society and police state - I understand if you disagree. But I do hope your are a clear minority.
