Alexander Ebert
Jul 25, 2017 · 1 min read

I like the meta analysis here, tho somewhat lacking. Moral Universals (things a majority of a citizenry believe every person should have as a right), the author writes, are the civilizing force. Or, more succinctly, I would say, Institutionalizations of Empathy are the civilizing forces. Laws that enact programs based on helping your fellows enshrine those empathies in the collective heart. Tho he doesn’t get into WHY the US tends to repel such collectivity, briefly, it is this : the propaganda of individualism that has inculcated us by way of its use in capitalist competition. (Which brand of cigarette represents YOU, etc, and, generally, the capitalist tactic of stratifying otherwise redundant products across the same sectors to induce competition). (By appealing to our sense of our own individuality). Our brand of capitalist advertising has manipulated the collective moral compass and pushed individualism to the far end of itself: a self-centeredness with a net effect of sociopathy. Lastly (and another thing this piece skips, likely intentionally) is that the institutionalizing of empathy in the form of programs that benefit those in need is called Socialism. If your individualist heart can’t stomach that word, come up with another. But it will still be socialist. Govt programs for the people, even here in the US, are technically socialist programs. And so, what this piece by this guy I do not know is really saying is this: the American experiment is failing due to its seeming inability to grasp socialism as an important component of a successful capitalist environment.

    Alexander Ebert

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