ETHICS: Still relevant to political discourse?

[Cosmic Kitten]

An argument can be made that
culturally, politically, and individually
we are suffering a national "ethics crisis".

We, the American people, our Govt.,
has engaged in unlawful war, have been
a party to extrajudicial murder, and enable
an immoral "wealth gap" that's enveloping
the globe.

And yet nary a peep from our elected representatives,
the Fourth Estate, or the general public.

How will it end?

Will we hit rock bottom before the tide turns?
Can we as a people regain our moral compass
and right this ship before our collective misery
overwhelms our ability to feel compassion?

Do we possess the requisite ethical and virtuous
qualities to save us from our own worst selves?

"When we are committed to the ideal of concern
for all others it follows that this should inform
our social and political priorities"
- His Holiness the Dali Lama

[HassleCat]

1. It's like the torture memo

Just get your AG to say it's legal. End of story.

[Cosmic Kitten]

2. Legal and ethical, not synonomous

Your point is taken.

Some people rely on "legality"
to excuse immoral and unethical behavior.

It seems we have lost or credibility
when it come to ethics?

[sabrina 1]

11. It might happen, sometime in the future after we hit bottom.

But when people on a democratic forum argue with you in defense of extra-judicial assassinations ordered by the president, I think things are even worse than they were ten years ago regarding ethics and morality and respect for the Constitutional rights we CLAIM to live by.

[djean111]

3. No. It is now win at all cost. And STFU about what happens afterwards. You voted for it, right?

Huge amounts of money are now touted as the most important qualification.

[Cosmic Kitten]

5. I wonder if it's us individually or the cuture?

Are we etically challenged individually,
Or is this systemic?

Are forces reater than us individually
corrupting us or are we our own worst enemy?

Of course there is an intersection.
But deconstructing the relationship
between the individual and the culture
is the only way to understand and change
the status quo.

People say they want "change".
That they want less gun violence.
That they want less inequity and more equality.

But what is the root of the problem?

Have we lost our center?
Is our culture ethically unmoored and
without a moral compass?

We can't legislate people into moral or ethical behavior.
So how will it end?

[djean111]

6. I think the power to change things has, for the most part, been taken out of our hands.

IMO, part of the problem of having such a huge country - too easy to divide and bamboozle.

[Cosmic Kitten]

8. Yikes! You may be right...

Hope may rest in the idea that,
the the "global village" can effect change?
(Global Village as described by Marshall McLuhan)

The big conundrum or idea is what
needs to change and into what?

What is the "center" and how was
Paradise Lost?

[aspirant]

4. These are mental disorders

Bankster crooks are gamblers with an addiction that must be treated. They should be removed from any and all gambling environments to protect society and be looked upon as unhealthy people needing therapy.

Police officers that murder are definitely deranged. We have cops that have been charged with murder and killings still continue. Where is the deterrent or do they think that they will be acquitted or be sentenced to a few years in the country club prison? Cops don't last very long in the general population with all the Bubbas.

After these police killings we read that the murderers are told to take some time off until the adrenaline rush wears off. Killing another human being would make me sick, not a buzz.

These people deserve to be in the white rooms at the Funny Farm.

[Cosmic Kitten]

9. True that :~)

The funny farm...
Always reminds me of "Empty Spaces"

[Scuba]

7. On DU ethics are the centerpiece of some forums and dismissed as irrelevant in others.

[Cosmic Kitten]

10. Indeed, it's a mixed bag.

Often using the absurd illuminates the absurd.

Trying to speak directly frequently falls on deaf ears.
Meeting the listener on their terms yields more results.

It's the alliance that opens ears, not the sermon.