Quote:
Originally Posted by aklim
And who would arrest this downward spiral? You? And what army? Another 100 senators and 435 House reps? OK, lets say you do. Think these 535 people won't be corrupted again? Can't help it. Such is life because it is run by human beings. Soon as they get in, they will be corrupted and we will start again at square 1. It is not an excuse. It is just a fact of life. I built my house one way and now the sun shines in and wakes me up before I want to because the bedroom window is facing East. That too is a fact of life.
|
It's hard to know why our country is more civilized than say, Iraq or Myanmar. Why do we have a greater degree of respect for individual rights and the rule of law?
I think it stems from a greater degree of average personal integrity and/or morallity. This stuff is impossible to quantify. Where and what does it derive from? And then look at Japan. You can leave your wallet on a counter at a dept. store and come back an hour or two later and it's still there. People have surreptitiously filmed a briefcase left on the street in Japan to see how long it takes for it to be taken. Days sometimes.
There are no armies enforcing this level of civility. It comes from within, from a greater capacity for shame than is found in most places. Somehow, this element needs to be encouraged.
Where does such a degree of respect and consideration for strangers come from?