Bankrupt Morality

 

Last week’s essay regarding conscience could easily have followed todays. Back in the day, the Republican Party actually had sound policies and made sense.  Eisenhower addressed the military-industrial complex and George Romney talked about brainwashing. Yes, there was a high tax rate, price controls, Vietnam War and an engagement with China. This week’s essay pertains to the current Republican Parties impaired moral development.

My first economics textbook was written by Paul J Samuelson. Prof. Samuelson supported: 1. Having business and business people subjected to constraints 2. Having a high business tax rate 3. Having strong union membership 4. Having strong antitrust policies limiting monetary power. In fact, these policies were in line with the British economist John Maynard Keynes. Furthermore, employees at Sears Roebuck and Company prospered .Everyone, especially Linda’s family prospered at Sears.

Things politically changed in the mid-60s when the racist South became associated with the Republican Party. Economically, Prof. Milton Friedman had a different view as contrasted with Prof. Samuelson. Friedman proposed that government spending and taxes can be used to manage the economy. Then, he changed. Now, Friedman’s idea was to restore the Gilded Age style with unrestrained capitalism. He received notoriety when he wrote that economists should ignore theories about monopoly and imperfect competition because they don’t make any useful predictions beyond those that come from simple supply and demand. In his book “Capitalism and Freedom,” Friedman argued that he had faith in free markets; bank deregulation; and the idea that authorities could stabilize the economy by ensuring steady slow growth in the money supply. Friedman became the darling prophet of the Republican Party as his ideas of capitalism or greed reinforced the irrational needs of wealth, power, accumulation, consumption, exploitation, and prestige. Economics of neo liberalism became the idolized driving force thus further contributing to racism, narcissism, egotism, consumption and alienation for the slave- majority. Thus economics, contributed to change morality and character development.

With neoliberalism economics, the following happened and had deleterious effects on moral development: 1.Increase in Income inequality 2. More mothers entering the workforce with others caring for the children 3. More divorce and separation 4. More drug, alcohol, mental, physical abuse and illness 5. More low-paying employment thus increasing alienation 6. More credit card and student loan debt 7. More poverty 8. Increased marketing of obtaining an MBA 9. More irrational slogans and marketing strategies like “Dream House,” “Dream Job,” “The one with the most toys wins,” “Dream vacation,” “It’s state of art,” and “Attending the University” etc. 10. The ends justify the means was another significant factor 11. The end of religious and humanistic ideals like “love the stranger” was replaced by the egotism and narcissism of “I am better than you; I have more than you; love me first; get your own; I’m entitled etc.”12. Tax breaks for the top 1%. The above political and economic societal components affected character change, which in turn, was reflected by impaired and fixated moral and ethical development.

Additional racist illustrations in our history was found in The New York Times August 22, 2021 edition. The Samuelson- Friedman article was titled “Market Watch” for one. Another article titled “Black Homeownership in the United States described the tactic of Redlining. Redlining originated from government homeownership programs that were created in the new deal era. The government insured mortgages for homeowners and added perimeters for appraising and vetting properties for the homeowners that would qualify. They used color-coded maps ranking the loan worthiness of neighborhoods in more than 200 cities and towns across the United States. Neighborhoods were  ranked from least risky to most risky and given grades from A through D. Neighborhoods  where black residents lived were  graded D. “Black Soldiers Receive Belated Recognition” pertained to the “ Harlem Hell Fighters.” These soldiers were celebrated in World War I because of their bravery helping change the perception of black soldiers as inferior. After the war, they faced discrimination at home and were overlooked up until now. More than a century later, they are to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as the U.S. Senate recently passed legislation to present this long overdue award. The fourth article “To Measure Inequality, Just Count the Trees” identified areas in New York City that differentiated climate, health, air quality and access to air-conditioning. To no one’s surprise, one of the lowest levels of tree cover and air-conditioning in New York making residents vulnerable to heat was found in a black neighborhood.

 Racism has been with us for over 400 years. Things are not getting better between white and black skinned individual’s .The hate is overt. The pursuit of the money Idol or greed of the constituents of the Republican Party is accompanied with a low level of moral functioning and development. Is there moral decay? Guns versus butter-for the rich has been decided. Anti-Roe versus Wade legislation; and democracy for all in a crisis are a few examples of moral and ethical decline along with Covid-19 and the riot at the Capitol in January.

 Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg supported Freud’s understanding of conscience development.  Both Piaget and Kohlberg also viewed morality developmentally. Their research identified “normal” versus “abnormal” conscience development. Ideally, positive moral development takes into account the general rights of standards, rules and values which have been agreed upon by the majority in society as a whole. It clearly proceeds from irrational to rational considerations with abstract and ethical principles appealing to logical comprehensiveness and universal reality. Also, moral development, at the highest level, is consistent with the Golden Rule philosophy per Immanuel Kant “a personal motive can be considered well only if its adoption by all others persons would work out successfully.” This level of morality, can only be found at the highest level of moral development and certainly not evident with the Covid-19 behavior or the criminality by insurrectionists.

This Golden Rule idea is consistent with high moral standards. Piaget, in his research found, with normal development, the rules in moral judgment become: 1.Less absolute and less authoritarian 2. More dependent on the needs and desires of the group 3. Are based on cooperation and respect for others by mutual agreement during development. However, with disturbed moral development, the findings of elementary and middle school aged children were: 1. More concrete 2. More egocentric 3. More rigid regarding right- wrong 4.Were more fearful of external punishment and obedience. In other words, with morality disturbance, the impaired group demonstrated more inflexibility with notions of right and wrong emanating from parents; a disturbed sense of equity; not able to take into account the situation or pertinent exceptions; less able to cooperate and respect others with their rigid authoritarian stance.

Kohlberg, in his research, also found immaturity developmentally at an earlier stage of moral development. Prohibitions against behaviors were based on external rather than internal sanctions. His findings suggest that these impaired conscience developed children required more police or punishing authorities for control. If initial punishment didn’t work, punish more, punish harder. At higher levels of moral development, Kohlberg found that individuals were less guided, more oriented towards punishment and obedience by internal forces Instead of being externally regulated. If internally regulated, the person was then able to view morality in terms of contractual obligations and democratically accepted laws. Within that occurrence, there exists a morality of individual principles within one’s conscience. Once again, Kohlberg found morality can develop appropriately or inappropriately within conscience.

The Republican Party provided tax breaks for the wealthy 1%; cages for immigrant children; against climate change; against $15 minimum wage; against citizenship for brown skinned folks but allows them to work for slave wages in unsanitary conditions in California and elsewhere etc. These policies are inclined to protect the few and discriminate against the many. Don’t kill the fetus. Instead, wage war for 20 years killing thousands. The party fails Kant’s Golden Rule logic. The Republican Party panders for the few and not for the benefit of all. Their moral behavior is consistent with the findings of impaired middle school children researched by Piaget and Kohlberg.  Morality and conscience is overrun by the irrational passions of greed, power, exploitation, racism when it comes to consumption economics.

A few comments regarding research findings on parenting for individuals that have morally impaired children at elementary and middle school levels. The parents of these impaired school-age children, have their own morality issues, as with their excessive rigidity, harshness and inflexible parenting practices. Their withdrawal of love can either be helpful or harmful. It’s especially apparent when the activities of the child are met with disapproval compared to only the act itself. Parental practices as exhibited by extreme harshness and impulsivity greatly interfere with appropriate moral development. Some parents employ emotional blackmail, guilt, to control and dominate their offspring. If successful, a symbiotic relationship develops. In essence, parental standards themselves can be deficient and are disturbed which in turn affects the child’s capacity for developing separation and appropriate morality development.

In summary, too many Republican Party members exhibit an impaired moral development (less emphasis on moral and ethical values) similar to that of elementary and middle-aged school children. Their greed and narcissism has affected and is associated with moral decay as the pursuit of the money Idol dehumanizes and alienates. For an appropriate moral development of conscience to occur, parents must have an effective not a defective sense of right and wrong values and a humanistic attitude. They must place more emphasis on the ethical side. An attitude based on authoritarianism and lies are arbitrary, cruel, and exploitive and based on submission. A leaders narcissism easily gets in the way of caring about others. For a just and moral society, citizens must care about the welfare of others and not get sidetracked by illusions, greed and self-centeredness (neo liberalism capitalism). Different parenting and different character development is necessary.  Per Seneca “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor” and “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth” according to Einstein.

PS

The leader of this party is the most corrupt, fraudulent, asocial, malignant narcissist and criminal, in my lifetime, and yet they lie about “voter fraud.” They are delusional! It’s simply credo quia absurdum.

Reference

Mussen P, Conger J, Kagan J. Child Development and Personality . Harper  A. Row .