One thought that came to my head was the role that the Enlightenment played in inspiring various rationalist thinkers in the 18th and 17th century, and to your point, the qualities both ancient and modern required to maintain and improve the function of democratic institutions that both sanctify individualism and result in utilitarian outcomes. What is it that enhances or diminishes public accountability and spurs the general public into unselfishly and uncompromisingly holding their leaders accountable regardless of the color of their tie? Perhaps the greatest challenge of all is to hold the public accountable for "higher thinking" as the founding fathers' quotations seem to suggest. Then again, asking the public to overcome the "natural man" and his vices is a struggle quite familiar to antiquity. That being said, I am optimistic that mankind is capable of improving itself, just as it did during the Enlightenment.
Hi Joe - You have captured the root of the problem we face, so many US citizens, and politicians, have no virtue. Restoring virtue is our path out of danger.
Powerful stuff, Joe! Coincidentally, I recently began reading Ryan Holiday's book The Daily Stoic, which is certainly packed full of thought-provoking wisdom from the ancients and with modern application. When the tone and actions to be plainly observed emanating from the top of the political (and economic) power structures demonstrate blatant corruption, ends-justify-means, and "get mine while the gettin's good" behavior, without regard to the virtues described here it certainly undermines and discourages the demos from embracing the virtues they ought to do, and thereby undermines the virtue of society on the whole. I look forward to your ideas on how we might go about reinstilling these virtues from the top down and from the bottom up, which are certainly challenges that have plagued societies from time immemorial. Perhaps through a careful assemblage of incentive structures, transparency, accountability mechanisms, and effective means of enforcement, as well as some base layer of spiritually-rooted understanding of universally accepted principles, it might be possible! And let's not forget ongoing maintenance and weeding of the garden. I'm sure you'll have more to say about all this as I read further into your pitch deck here....
One thought that came to my head was the role that the Enlightenment played in inspiring various rationalist thinkers in the 18th and 17th century, and to your point, the qualities both ancient and modern required to maintain and improve the function of democratic institutions that both sanctify individualism and result in utilitarian outcomes. What is it that enhances or diminishes public accountability and spurs the general public into unselfishly and uncompromisingly holding their leaders accountable regardless of the color of their tie? Perhaps the greatest challenge of all is to hold the public accountable for "higher thinking" as the founding fathers' quotations seem to suggest. Then again, asking the public to overcome the "natural man" and his vices is a struggle quite familiar to antiquity. That being said, I am optimistic that mankind is capable of improving itself, just as it did during the Enlightenment.
Hi Joe - You have captured the root of the problem we face, so many US citizens, and politicians, have no virtue. Restoring virtue is our path out of danger.
Powerful stuff, Joe! Coincidentally, I recently began reading Ryan Holiday's book The Daily Stoic, which is certainly packed full of thought-provoking wisdom from the ancients and with modern application. When the tone and actions to be plainly observed emanating from the top of the political (and economic) power structures demonstrate blatant corruption, ends-justify-means, and "get mine while the gettin's good" behavior, without regard to the virtues described here it certainly undermines and discourages the demos from embracing the virtues they ought to do, and thereby undermines the virtue of society on the whole. I look forward to your ideas on how we might go about reinstilling these virtues from the top down and from the bottom up, which are certainly challenges that have plagued societies from time immemorial. Perhaps through a careful assemblage of incentive structures, transparency, accountability mechanisms, and effective means of enforcement, as well as some base layer of spiritually-rooted understanding of universally accepted principles, it might be possible! And let's not forget ongoing maintenance and weeding of the garden. I'm sure you'll have more to say about all this as I read further into your pitch deck here....