American Principles of Self-Government

8 American Principles of Self-Government Michael Reber Introduction We have seen at the beginning of this new millennium a test of the American Experiment. The corruption scandals of companies such as Enron, WorldCom, and their auditors Arthur Anderson, only highlight the greater problem of our Republic in the 21" century—Modern Moral Minimalism. Modern Moral Minimalism is a moral system grounded in the ethics of realpolitik and classical liberalism. The most influential writers of realpolitik are Niccold Machiavelli (1947), Francis Bacon (1952), and Thomas Hobbes (1998). On behalf of classical liberalism, John Locke (1988) is most noted by scholars of political thought. Modern Moral Minimalism holds that we can only expect minimal moral conduct from all people. Machiavelli's moral code for princes in Chapter XVIII of his classic work, The Prince, epitomizes this belief system: A wise leader cannot and should not keep his word when keeping it is not to his advantage or when the reasons that made him give it are no longer valid. If men were good, this would not be a good precept, but since they are wicked and will not keep faith with you, you are not bound to keep faith with them.. ..So a prince need not have all.. .good qualities, but it is most essential that he appear to have them. Indeed, I should go so far as to say that having them and always practising them is harmful, while seeming to have them is useful. It is good to appear clement, trustworthy, humane, religious, and honest, and also to be so, but always with the mind so disposed that, when the occasion arises not to be so, you can become the opposite. This representative statement of modem morality stands in stark contrast to the classical Greek and Roman ideal, which states that the best moral conduct should be required of everyone (Euben, Wallach, and Ober, 1996; Maclntyre, 1984; Norton 1991; Ober and Hedrick, 1996; and Taylor, 1989, 1991). In Democracy and Moral Development, philosopher David Norton (1991) challenges the paradigm of Modern Moral Minimalism and juxtaposes it with a post-modern version of Hellenic-Roman ethics, which he refers to as Noblesse Oblige. He asserts that the problem with Modern Moral Minimalism is its non-recognition of character growth: The prevailing modem way of handling exceptional moral conduct is by categorizing it as supererogatory, where this is understood to represent conduct that is morally good to do, but not morally bad not to do. But this means that exceptional moral conduct is not required of anyone, which is to say that moral development is not a moral requirement. Clearly this conception of supererogatory conduct reinforces moral minimalism (p. 42). However, noblesse oblige is grounded in an ethics that Norton terms eudaimonism or self-actualization. It holds that each person is unique and each should discover whom one is (the daimon within) and actualize one's true potential to live the good life within the congeniality and complementarity of excellences of fellow citizens (Norton, 1976). Thus, through the course of self-actualization, a person is obligated to live up to individual expectations and the expectations of the community. Eudaimonism should be the ethical foundation of our Republic. We should expect the very best from those persons whom we recognize to be at the latter stages of moral development , such as our business, religious, and political leaders. Furthermore, they should expect the very best of themselves and serve as models for those persons who are in the earlier stages of moral development. Hence, character ethics does not exist solely within public life, but, as Jean Yarbrough (1998) contends in American Virtues: Thomas Jefferson on the Character of a Free People, within all of life: Character has to do with the full range of moral and intellectual virtues. To think about character is to think about the duties we owe to ourselves, to others, to God, as well as to our country, and to put them in right relation to each other. For a people that elevates patriotism and love of country above all else will be different from a people that prizes individual freedom and self-development, and both will differ from...