Ethical Vacuum
It is my firm belief that people have an innate understanding of right and wrong. “Listen to your heart” is an apt metaphor for this. We all know - if we listen to our hearts - when we act in ways that cause hardship to others. We don’t need laws to tell us this, we just know. Yet somehow we learn to drown out that tiny voice.
I also believe that no event can exist in a vacuum. Causes like the war in Iraq cannot just happen without other pre-existing conditions being met. Choices made lead to other choices that lead to war. At each juncture, a wise person can avoid confrontation by listening to his or her small voice and choosing the path that leads to less hardship. The continued failure to do so leads to conflict and war.
Likewise I firmly believe in comeuppance. Some would call it Karma, or “you shall reap what you sow.” If we refuses to listen to our hearts, the bad things perpetrated upon others will come back to us.
We all know the Golden Rule: Do unto others what you would have done unto yourself. I’ve always preferred this rephrased, as I think it most accurate: Do not do unto others as you would not have done unto yourself. To refrain from rash actions fueled by heated emotions is a paramount virtue.
To put these concepts together, we start to understand a basic ethic of wholesome behavior toward one another: don’t shit in your neighbor’s yard. Crude, yes, but apt in its simplicity. Too bad our nation doesn’t adhere to ethics.
If our military never took preemptive action, we wouldn’t have to hear the lies of our president. If our president had no reason to lie, he would be more able to convince others on unrelated policy changes. If our president were above board in his methods, we wouldn’t have such partisan strife today. Less partisan politics would allow our lawmakers to focus on their jobs.
Without Iraq, there would be money for Medicare, Katrina relief, and the education reform Mr. Bush started, but cannot complete. Without Iraq, perhaps his tax cuts would make better sense to the struggling, dwindling middle class. Without our needless war, we would engender the hatred of whole peoples around the world. Without the war we wouldn’t have tortured prisoners, bombed whole cities to dust, and maimed and killed countless humans.
One bad decision opens the door to more of the same. Likewise, one good decision can reverse or minimize the damage. A wise person could see this. Too bad we don’t know any in Washington.