Wayne Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 (edited) Human life is not guaranteed. A successful life requires using one's reason to identify those things in reality that will nourish one's life and taking those actions necessary to gain them. These things are values. Basic values of life are food, clothing and shelter. Other values including family, religious beliefs and recreation satisfy spiritual needs. Virtues are values of character. Character reflects a person's commitment to rationality in relation to reality, other people and his or her own thinking processes. For example, honesty is the policy of being true to the facts of reality to others and to oneself. Virtues, like all values, are self-created. Pride and honor are respect for and acknowledgment of the achievement of one's own or other people's values. Pride is the recognition of one's own achievement of values. Honor is the commitment to preserve the mutuality of values in relationships and organizations. It is never to betray a mutual value and it is not expecting to be betrayed. It is taking responsibility for one's actions, good or bad. One can see the greatest expression of honor in the American armed forces. Doing one's chosen duty involves a life and death commitment to oneself, one's fellow soldiers and one's country. You can see honor in service men and women in their respect and precision in the execution of their duties. Maturation is the process of assuming responsibility for one's own success and happiness in life. It is getting an education and learning skills needed for providing values for oneself and one's family. It is developing a work ethic of punctuality and commitment to excellence. Character as the commitment to values is self created. Children at various stages of life are dependent upon their parents. A child's growth includes assuming greater independence. It also includes learning respect for the independence and values of other people. Incomplete maturation causes character flaws which can be categorized in different ways depending on how the maturation failed. These flaws contrast with the independent man or woman who deals with other people -- and themselves -- with rationality, honor and respect. The egotist mentality is a failure of honesty and independence. The egotist attempts to enhance his or her self worth by trying to create the appearance of intelligence, education or moral superiority. He or she has a chronic need to impress other people with exaggerated or invented tales of their background and accomplishments. Narcissism is a more extreme version of egotism in which the person is militantly only aware of or concerned with his or her own values. The cynical mentality is a variant of the egotist or narcissist. The cynic believes that "Everybody is out for themselves; I have to get what I can." Such concepts as values and other people's values have no explicit meaning. Such a person may not overtly harm another, unless they can get away with it without detection or penalty. Criminality includes a great amount of such cynicism. The elitist mentality is another variant of the egotist mentality. The elitist believes himself or herself to be member of the intelligentsia, those people who believe they are entitled to define and control the ideas and values of a culture. Contrast the elitist with an authentic intellectual leader who, respecting the mind and values of the people, uses reason and persuasion rather than arcane language or emotional appeals. The demagogic mentality is a more extreme case of the elitist who craves political power. The demagogue achieves power through intelligence, cleverness and charisma. The demagogue has elements of the cynic in that he or she does not care about other people except as pawns in their self-aggrandizement. Having achieved their power, they will waste no time casting out putative friends and crushing potential rivals. Perhaps all elitists are potential demagogues but lack the popular appeal to ever achieve any direct political power. Elitists without such power find themselves to be the propaganda ministers of the demagogue. The serf mentality is the opposite of the elitist mentality but is also a failure of independence. The serf does not feel self-confidence to create his or her values. Serfdom has two contrasting elements: dependence on others and resentment for that dependence. In a political context, others are society or the government. A slave is a serf without actual choice or rights, but the serf is self-entrapped by his or her own dependence. The victim mentality is a corollary of the serf mentality with a greater emphasis on placing blame for one's own weaknesses or failures on other people or society. The entitlement mentality contrasts with the victim mentality. He or she does not blame others yet feels entitled to whatever they want from other people. The serf mentality does not include those people who are truly in need or dependent through sickness or accident. However, there are people who make many bad decisions in their lives which make it very difficult for them to sustain themselves. They then become serfs or victims. A variant of the serf mentality is the true believer who is morally dependent on a cause or organization. It is the cause and his or her efforts in service to that cause that gives the true believer a sense of self worth. Anyone who challenges the true believer's faith with logic and facts is met with indifference or hostility. A member of a cult is a more extreme true believer. He or she devotes his or her entire life to the cause. The true believer might be motivated by naive idealism, which is the belief in some doctrine without knowing its full context. This is common in young people, who naively believe that all personal or social problems can be solved by the one true cause. The true believer's cause may or may not be just. The cause might be to correct government policies or social mores that infringe on people's rights. But the problem with the true believer is subverting their own or other people's values for the sake of the cause. That is not to say that it is not proper to risk one's values when fighting for something that is right. Judging the true believer depends on the context. Is it right or wrong, true or false and does it interfere or promote other people's rights and values? The childish mentality forever believes in Santa Claus. He or she believes that the government can forever bestow bounties on all good citizens. As such, eternal and universal riches and happiness are possible. The child does not know the adult world and adult responsibilities. He or she does not know that if one wants something one has to work for it. Work is not fun and the rewards of work are not always immediate. The child only knows now, he or she does not know the future. A variant of the childish mentality is the negative thinker. This is usually more naïve or innocent. Lacking in their own self confidence and knowledge of the world, they believe in the power of external forces and constantly believe disasters are coming. They will grab onto every "chicken little" fad such as imminent global warming or global famines. Their lives may be boring or they do not believe they are being "moral enough" so they join their cousins the true believers in fighting for the latest cause. The negative thinker will bristle at any refutations of their cherished beliefs. They will use any kind of rationalization to discount any challenges to their ideas. Good news can even be met with disappointment. A less innocent version of the negative thinker is the envier with a component of resentment or hatred of the "good for being the good" (Ayn Rand). Feeling a failure, such a person will not reconsider their own negative thinking and will feel hatred towards other successful people. A person who politicizes such attitudes will grow to hate successful countries or societies. They will want to tear them down. The rebel mentality is the child who one day realizes that there is no Santa Claus and he or she hates the fact that he or she has to take responsibility for his or her life. The rebel rejects conventional standards of right and wrong. As a child, he or she hated parental limits and requirements and as an adult hates limits and requirements of a civilized society. Some rebels are true believers and direct their frustrations toward political causes. They hate authority, the military or the government (at least the aspects of the government that do not conform to their ideals). They derive their sense of self value by posturing as David fighting Goliath. Of course there are legitimate motivations for rebelliousness. Parents or governments can have unreasonable restrictions and limitations on liberty. The justification of the rebel's cause must be judged upon what is right and true. A final character flaw is manifested by the evil mentality which believes in his or her entitlement to destroy other people's values. This can be a criminal, tyrannical dictator or terrorist. It can be members of a religion or any ism that believes it is justifiable to kill people in service to itself. Examples of evil mentality include the street rioter and angry demonstrator who churlishly and childishly demand that other people accommodate themselves to their demands. It also includes the blogger who spews hatred and obscene insults. He or she is one step away from doing in action what he or she says in words. An evil politician will engage in evil activities including using his or her power to intimidate or deny the rights of anyone who has the potential of threatening their power. The serf and its variants all have a component of feelings of personal helplessness which is a lack of self-confidence in one's ability to understand the world and thus knowing how to create values and prosperity in life. An educational system derives from the dominant philosophy of the time. If altruism and service to society are the dominant ethic, then students are not taught independent thinking skills that create intellectual self-confidence. In the elitist and demagogue, there is always a component of power lust -- the insatiable desire to have influence and power over other people. Independent people approach other people with mutuality and respect. The elitist demagogue needs to feel superior and have power and control. The elitist comes to expect their status from parents, teachers or merely the station of their birth. This is obvious in a feudal or a caste society. In a society with an educational system that stresses subservience to society, there are the individuals who rise to the top and become the college educated intelligentsia class who are taught that it is their station in life to be the ruling elite. Another source of elitism arises from a person's lack of feeling for one's own personal power, control and self-respect. A natural part of the human experience is to feel that one has the power to create one's values and that other people or forces cannot restrict their achievement. This includes not just physical needs but also needs such as love and parental respect and honor. A child of an alcoholic father may feel powerless and a lack of security for having his or her needs met. The child may grow up feeling that if they cannot control their own destiny, they will psychologically substitute it with the need for power over other people. Some such people succeed at this through charm, intelligence and charisma. The elitist and the serf exist in a symbiotic relationship. Each needs the other. As the serf needs the elitist for guidance and sustenance, the elitist needs the serf for justification and power. The elitist actually believes that the serf is powerless and incapable of creating their values in life and must be taken care of. The serf agrees. The elitist has no respect for the serf but must pretend that they do. The elitist endlessly proclaims how much they care about the "little people," but continually prove that it is a lie by never actually doing anything that will actually help individual human beings unless it serves their own purposes. The serf endlessly believes the sincerity of the elite not knowing they are merely pawns in elitist power struggles. The serf believes the elites will someday create universal wealth and prosperity from which they will eventually benefit. If they see their elites with power and influence and wealth they will rationalize it to themselves that the elites are doing "good" work and deserve the perks of power. The serf actually admires the trappings of the elite, believing that their power and wealth prove the elites effectiveness at achieving success. Some cynically approve of and envy the elites who trample on other peoples rights in their quests for power. The serf/elite symbiosis follows the altruism/socialism paradigm. If society is the benefactor of individual action then the serf believes he or she is a member of that society and thus is entitled to its benefits. The elite capitalize on being the administrator of those entitlements while justifying it on altruistic grounds. Caught in the middle is the productive independent individual who has to pay for the entitlements and suffer the bureaucratic elite. The elitist/serf symbiosis represents an attack on the American idea of individualism. The fact that America was built and prospered with individual Americans working together in common enterprises is a reality that the elites want to ignore. They do so because they have a vision of a communal society that deprecates the life and values of the individual. The elites encourage class warfare rhetoric. It is true that some people will have more monetary success than other people and the elites want to encourage envy and resentment towards wealthy people. The left is always crying for increasing taxes on the "rich." Not only is this legalized theft, it encourages hatred and blame for economic problems on them. In fact, it those people with money that invest and create jobs. Their innovations lead to ever higher standards of living for everyone. To the extent that businessmen accept the ethics of altruism is the extent to which they feel guilt for their success. Such businessmen associate with and encourage politicians who reflect their philosophy. This furthers the growth of a statist government. Return to America Edited May 11, 2011 by Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottd Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Amazingly well conceived and written article. Thank you for sharing this. Everyone in America needs to read and understand this before next November... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dream_weaver Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Wayne, You have been added to my quote of the day in my Franklin Planner Software. I would like to have voted you +1 on this, but it is not available as an option. Nice categorization and contrast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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