Ethics: The call for responsibility

In a prosperous society, we often see calls for the government to rein in the unsavoury elements of free markets. We are talking about the vendors of products & services deemed to be contrary to the values of the 'moral majority'. These products & services include:

1. Pornography
2. Drugs
3. Profanity

Opposition to these activities stems from these 'moral crusaders' right to impose their values on others. Remember that ponography, drugs and profanity cause no harm to others, at least in themselves. It fact its only the attempts by the authorities to regulate or prohibit them which has caused proponents of these activities to escalate the fight to violence. Critics argue that without restraint pornography and drugs would be marketed on TV, and 30% of the population would be falling over themselves on hallucinogenic substances. Really?

The reality is that we would know alot more about our community if the industry was unfetted. People are on drugs, buying pornography, using profanity for reasons. Banning such behaviour does not change it, it merely drives it underground. Its a symptom of values. It might give comfort to those people who don't want to see it, but the reality is that it does exist, and it contradictions those people's pretentions of wanting to do something about the problem. These people avoid the issue by living in the 'right suburbs', or in security premises. But the consequence of prohibition is theft and more serious crimes. These people need treatment, not a prison sentence.

Proponents of 'social responsibility' are absolute hypocrits. There is the attempt to engage with people before they descend to a point where they are engaging in these activities. The reason is that these people need a crisis to vindicate their 'moral righteousness'. They would have a panic attack if there weren't drug addicts to save. They are not about solving problems, they are about 'giving' to assert their moral superiority. In fact their values are the cause of the problem, not the solution. What we need is 'personal responsibility' (or self-reliance) not 'social responsibility'. Social responsibility sends the wrong message entirely, and that message is distilled from an early age with peer pressure, social alienation, guilt and reinforcement of other social values. Social values undermine people's self-esteem by undermining their intellectual independence. When we learn explicitly or implicitly that personal values have to be renounced for the sake of the group, then we undermine people's capacity to hold personal values. They values become social, so they compare themselves to others. People become paralysed by fear of the group, fearing alienation from it. We see this in street gangs and cults, but its present to some degree in secular religion, community groups and other organisations such as political parties, where the personal values are vetted by 'group thought'. We don't see these people committing suicide or over-dosing, but these are only the highly visible symptoms. What about all those people who are not accountable for their actions, who are not responsible for their lives. The first step is becoming a victim, according to contemporary values, the next step is to become a parasite on the guilt and responsibility of others. People need not perceive themselves to be bad. You treat people how to treat you. But parasitism cures nothing, in fact it rewards unhealthy behaviour. So where to people learn to live delusions like the drug-induced high. They learn that in the group. Its no accident that drug takers have 'collectivist' souls.

The enemy of individualism is the collectivised, entrenched values of conservatism. Its more harmful then the white supremacists and Muslim fundamentalists. Conservatives and liberals represent a suspension of principles. The solution is for people of principle to highlight the practical consequence of principles with reference to real life situations. Be goal-orientated rather than self-righteous, emparthetic rather than succumbing to overt-moralism. People have a different context to you. If you've had the good fortune to have good parents, understand that it takes time to change. Its a long path to change. Preserving your own integrity is the best way to fight the 'cult of irresponsibility'. The first step is not fighting terorism in the Middle East, that's the end of the world. The first challenge is removing the 'contradictions' from western values. If we don't get it, how can we expect the Middle East to get it. They have not 'lived' the Age of Reason (Industrial Revolution) as we have.