This is a series on the erosion of moral, cultural, and ethical boundaries in modern society:
— Proverbs 22:28 —
Previous essays examined some of the many ways which a society will evolve when it undermines its ancient boundaries, by eroding absolutes, principles, and tradition in its quest to create a Utopia grounded in narcissism and libertinism. Another means by which an individualistic and relativistic society, having lost its moorings in faith, absolute principles, and tradition, erodes its own foundations is the assault on civil authority and government.
The Assault on Civil Authority
Authority in Western society — at least in theory — serves the people whom it governs. As embodied in government, it exists to protect, to preserve societal order and norms, and to promote the common good. It functions to protect individual members of society from harm from its renegade members, from natural dangers, such as fire or natural disasters, from large societal upheaval such as riots and civil unrest, and from threats to national security or sovereignty. This authority is embodied in both law and the necessary authorized force to restrain the destructive and centrifugal forces in society and maintain civil order.
But law and legal force alone cannot restrain such evil tendencies, short of enforcing a despotic and tyrannical rule which is the antithesis of democracy and freedom. To function optimally, authority must be based on a shared tradition of self-restraint and ethical behavior, operating under the common denominator that the good of society as a whole outweighs individual desires and priorities — and delegating the enforcement of the common good to those in authority when individual license violates societal norms and standards.
In an age of narcissistic individualism authority must be undermined, for it represents a constraint and impediment to the Utopian vision of ultimate human freedom posited in unrestricted individual license. For the individualist, personal gain always eclipses the common good. The view of authority in such radical individualism is changed: its goal now primarily — if not exclusively — protection of the individual’s rights; and secondarily, the mitigation of the inevitable consequences of such self-centered behavior. In societies where such individualism becomes preeminent, we see the evolution of authority primarily into the guarantor of autonomy and the assurance of relief from its effects.
There are many instances in modern culture where such an effect can be seen. We see civil authority increasingly protecting irresponsible sexual behavior, through promotion of “safe sex” to children and young adults, and through aversion to promoting sexual abstinence before marriage in schools and government-funded health clinics. Normalization of anomolous sexual relationships is enforced by indicting all who disagree with the propriety, personal and cultural dangers of such aberrant relational behaviors. Such policies and opinions arise from the presumption that unmarried teenagers and adults will invariably be sexually active and promiscuous, and should not be discouraged from being so. All forms of sexual relationships are assumed to be equally beneficial and innocuous, and all contrary opinions indicate nought but hatred and bigotry.
Government of the people is subject to moral lapse — for it is comprised of individuals who are morally flawed. But for government to function well in a free society, there must be broad-based presumption of good intent: we must believe that government is acting for our best interests, while always recognizing its potential to go astray. The narcissistic culture always operates from the position of pure self-interest — and projects this motive onto others, great and small. The individual cares only about his own desires — and therefore assumes government must always be serving its own interests at its citizens’ expense. The narcissistic culture cares nothing about others — and therefore seeks a government which cares only about lifting all restriction on personal behavior while eliminating all personal responsibility, and offloading the resulting consequences onto others. This corruption percolates upward from citizens to those serving in government. The age of honorable legislators, those who pursued national interest over personal gain and political power, is long gone — for the citizens no longer cherish such values. We get the government we deserve — because we are the government, and we, like Alice in Wonderland, have grown very small indeed, moral midgets in a dark and ever more dangerous world.
Government of the people is subject to moral lapse — for it is comprised of individuals who are morally flawed. But for government to function well in a free society, there must be broad-based presumption of good intent: we must believe that government is acting for our best interests, while always recognizing its potential to go astray. The narcissistic culture always operates from the position of pure self-interest — and projects this motive onto others, great and small. The individual cares only about his own desires — and therefore assumes government must always be serving its own interests at its citizens’ expense. The narcissistic culture cares nothing about others — and therefore seeks a government which cares only about lifting all restriction on personal behavior while eliminating all personal responsibility, and offloading the resulting consequences onto others. This corruption percolates upward from citizens to those serving in government. The age of honorable legislators, those who pursued national interest over personal gain and political power, is long gone — for the citizens no longer cherish such values. We get the government we deserve — because we are the government, and we, like Alice in Wonderland, have grown very small indeed, moral midgets in a dark and ever more dangerous world.
We get the government we deserve — because we are the government, and we, like Alice in Wonderland, have grown very small indeed, moral midgets in a dark and ever more dangerous world.
As radical individualism molds government in its own image, it not only increases the number and complexity of intractable social problems, it greatly impairs its ability to resolve those problems. As citizens, and the public servants they elect, become increasingly unwilling to make personal or collective sacrifices based on principle for the common good, leadership responds with solving smaller and increasingly trivial problems, while passing symbolic solutions and non-binding resolutions to address the large and growing cultural cancers which pose a far greater threat to the society at large. Hence we get legislation promoting tampons in boys’ bathrooms, or outlawing prayer at abortion clinics, or promote men playing women’s sports, wrapped in the language of “diversity” and “equality.” Larger and more critical social issues — Social Security’s financial stability; a health care system imploding under the weight of staggering over-regulation and poorly insured patients lacking access to care; or a failing educational system which spits out students well-versed in feminist deconstructionism but utterly incapable of making reasoned, ethical decisions, much less being able to read or perform basic math problems — are ignored or addressed with band-aid solutions.
The risk grows even greater with external threats to national security, as elected leadership becomes paralyzed when executing military action necessary for defense against mortal enemies. War in the modern age is a media circus, virtually impossible to wage with the ferocity necessary to deter and defeat ruthless and amoral enemies. Postmodern media shows every car bomb, “bravely” portrays terrorist snipers hard at work murdering American troops, and flaunts videos of flag-draped caskets. But the morally-vacuous media, having fully co-opted the message of relativism and the value of selfish individualism over the common good, has neither the interest nor the aptitude to examine broader moral themes, to consider issues of just conflicts and proper national defense, or to pass proper judgment on flagrant evil. They exult instead in self-congratulatory displays of “non-judgmental” moral equivalence, ensuring that their audience can quickly avert their eyes from the deadly threat which endangers them. Thus American idealism suffers while American Idol ascends.
A life lived in self-absorption is pervasively corrosive, dismantling the foundations of free democratic society in its blind pursuit of pleasure at the expense of principle, comfort at the cost of character. We are increasingly ungovernable because we refuse to be governed. We are receiving what we demand — and it will never satisfy us, as it threatens to destroy us.
