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January 10, 2006
Warning Signs When Nations are in Decline
Symptoms of decline:Rampant textual criticism. Said another way, this could be revisionism or re-interpreting the written or spoken word for a broader view or sometimes just for political advantage. I.e. How many times have liberals recently tried to decide what the Constitution really meant regarding freedom of religion?
Another version of this symptom is moral relativism where the gap between right and wrong is narrowed and sometimes disappears altogether. What we may have held dear for ages as a homogenous society becomes muddled, even to the extent that right becomes wrong. Criticism of wrong is subverted by newer and more trendy ideology that often touted as being more liberal when it comes to acceptance and tolerance. Example: Old thinking - "Stealing is an absolute wrong". New - "Stealing is not necessarily wrong, it's subjective depending on the circumstance; taking a loaf of bread when you are starving is an acceptable excuse". You can take that example to the another extreme too, "I had to shoot the witness, she looked at me and I told her not too." Moral relativism, right becomes wrong.
In another dimension of moral relativism we find something called spin (another facet of textual criticism) where lying is not really lying it is just not telling the whole story or it depends on a word interpretation. President Clinton, "That depends on what the meaning of is is." And a further extension of Washington style spin is this thing called "culpable or plausible deniability," used to avoid responsibility and guilt when you are in fact guilty and responsible. We see the results in costly, scandalous behaviors in government and in business. The end result of all this is just one of the many symptoms of society in decline.
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Posted by Post Scripts at January 10, 2006 12:31 PM
Comments
The simple truth is this, without a major course correction this Country as we have known it will be history in much less time than its been a Country. There are people in this Country who hate that we are the greatest Country on Earth. Their purpose for being is to bring us down. These are the people who have more in common with terrorists than with us. I am a regular guy, if this is what you guys were talking about, I guess I agree with you.
Posted by: Toby Stahler at January 10, 2006 10:56 PM