America’s Moral Crisis
Written by Andrew Bard Schmookler
Sunday, 16 September 2007
Many Americans feel a sense of alarm about the moral condition of American society today.
Many in the liberal half of America worry that the political right has been taken over by amoral forces that only pretend to be righteous while they indulge their lust for power and wealth. Many in the conservative half of America fear that America’s moral integrity has been eroded by an “anything goes” culture abetted by the moral permissiveness of contemporary liberalism.
Both these worries are well-founded.
Indeed, these two moral crises — the rise of fascistic forces in the political realm and the degradation of values in the cultural realm–are two sides of the same coin.
The purpose of this site is to put the pieces together, to provide a clear and integrated picture of the moral crisis now besetting America. It is a vision that offers both good news and bad.
The bad news is that the crisis is much bigger than you probably suspect. The good news is that the same vision that reveals the magnitude of this crisis also suggests a strategy for successfully meeting our present challenge.
Bigger than the Bush presidency
First, the bad news. If you see the problem simply in terms of the current presidency, the bad news is that our crisis goes much deeper than that.
Even looking only at the political realm, this presidency should be seen as manifestation of the success of a set of amoral forces that have worked for a generation to take over the county. And these are forces that will work to maintain their grip on power even when their present public faces leave office.
Never in the history of this nation has so much power been in such ruthless hands.
But it’s bigger still, extending beyond the arena of power. The success of these unscrupulous forces –arising from the political right– is due in part to a more general unraveling of the moral fabric of America. And in this deterioration –reflected, for example, in our trashy popular culture– the liberal half of America has played an important role.
So it is not just a problem with “them,” as most of us in polarized America believe, but with “us” –all of us — as a whole cultural system. All of America is now challenged to regain its moral vision.
more...
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/2412/1/
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
