Many on both the left and right bark much more loudly than they bite. For an example from the left, consider Susan at Suburban Guerrilla who feels complicit in President Bush's "horror" and yet does nothing about it.
Does the knowledge of impending evil require action on a moral person's part?Well, does it?
You already know the answer, I suspect. That's why so many of us have been so edgy since the Bush takeover, why so many of our fellow citizens cling so fiercely to their state of denial. No one wants to acknowledge the full extent of what's going on, because if you actually let it sink in, you might feel morally compelled to run into the streets with an AK-47. And that would certainly disrupt our comfortable lives, wouldn't it?
I was reading the other day that one of the Nazi torture warehouses was right in the middle of a residential neighborhood - right next to a movie theater, in fact. People must have heard the screams.
On some level, weren't they complicit? Did pretending they didn't know repel the moral stain?
Stephen King novels are easier for us to absorb than real life, because we assume we'd fight back against unthinkable horrors like vampires or evil clowns. Frankly, it would be an easier decision than fighting back against a right-wing coup - it's more visible, easier to label.
I mean, you don't see me out in the streets, calling for revolution. I'm not saying I'm any different than you, or morally superior. I'm saying as long as we're not out in the streets, storming the barricades to stop the horrors performed in our name, we're part of those horrors.
She's not much different from the pro-lifers (such as myself) who consider most abortions to be murder and yet sit by, mostly passive, while nearly a million babies are killed each year. So are we cowards? I don't think so.
What I think is that when people speak to advocate change, they're willing to go farther in words than they will in deeds because they hope to sway the deeds of others only slightly towards their favor; deeds are not necessary to inspire such a small shift. Along the same lines, people may realize that there's little to be gained by pushing an issue beyond a certain point. Susan (and pro-lifers) can advocate for a belief with words at very little cost; going further, into deeds, will begin to endanger their comfort and security. It would be irrational to court such danger without the reasonable expectation of additionally benefiting the belief being advocated -- great cost, for no additional gain other than the smugness that comes from moral consistency.
I don't think the line you want to draw for moral analysis in our society is between additional cost and additional gain. That kind of thinking leads to all kinds of decisions that would not be moral, such as "direct actions" against abortionists.
The real question is, what kind of society do you live in? If you live in a democratic society that allows its citizens to change their legal structure, then the only moral option is to speak out against the things you oppose, convince enough of your fellow citizens that you're right and make the appropriate changes in the legal system.
The analogy to Nazi Germany is inapposite. They didn't live in a democratic society. Perhaps direct action would have been moral for them, but in that case you would be right that moral behavior would require an assessment of costs and benefits. Were individual Germans who heard the screams in their neighborhoods complicit? I don't think so. I think that many of them could also have been victims of Nazi oppression.
I think each person has their own "tipping point," and that that tipping point is specific as to time in life and subject. I tend to be an activist, writing, speaking, debating my point of view.
However, many, many years ago, Moonbeam Brown decided to put a diamond lane on the busiest freeway in the country, the Santa Monica Fwy. And this was to be accomplished by taking an existing lane, not adding a lane.
Even though all major TV outlets, radio stations, and Newspapers who had an opinion were adamantly against this proposal, the head of the California State Department of Transportation went on TV and said it was going forward anyway. (It was learned that his orginal speach had included the line "the public be damned," but he cut that before delivery.
That was my tipping point and we took the battle to the streets with Citizens Against Diamond Lanes. It seemed like action could be effective, the cause was just, the enemy clear. And I was young and mad.
Martin Sheen.. in an interview with The Progressive:
Q: What's your reaction to your critics in the media?
Sheen: Their opinions are very lucrative to them; mine are very expensive to me and my family. That is the difference. That is why I can't get involved in this debate. Because we are talking about two different things.
Q: When we met twenty years ago, you told me: "Murder is being conducted in our name around the world and we're paying the price here at home." What has that price been?
Sheen: This supposed idyllic society we have is the most confused, warped, addicted society in the history of the world. We are addicted to power, we're addicted to our own image of ourselves, to violence, divorce, abortion, and sex. Any whim of the human character is deeded in us 100-fold. We're number one in child abuse, pornography, divorce, all of these categories; that's how we get paid back. You can't project something on someone else that is damaging that person and not become that yourself, it seems to me.
Q: How has the game of golf helped you to develop your life philosophy?
Sheen: Anybody who plays golf will tell you that you play against yourself. I am a very conscientious golfer. I count every stroke. I learned to play that way. That is the only way I can play. It taught me to be honest. There is no greater virtue than honesty. The game is basically about yourself. Because you can cheat at golf, but you are only cheating you, so what is the point? If you are gambling and you cheat to make money then you are a thief and a liar, so it is exponential. Golf is fundamentally about being honest. I see people hit eight shots and tell me they shot five. I never say a word. It is a reminder to me of what is at stake.
PSB: I don't think your example refutes my point, it just demonstrates that there are a lot of ways to calculate costs and benefits.
RK: It's no surprise that California is screwed up. I blame the weather -- without it, no one would put up with the rest of this crap.
Mark: I have more respect for Sheen now than I used to... too bad his solutions all seem to involve more and more government.
Nice post. It inspired the post in my URL. I don't know how to make the track back thing work, but I referenced and linked your post in mine. I agree with your conclusion about cowardice, but for a different reason.