Hi people...

[moralist]

moralist,

What you've said here really resonates with me. As a Welder/Fabricator I too have been intimately involved with electricity on a heavy industrial basis for the past 37 years and have come to regard it much as you do. Gravity (and other physical forces that leave stored energy in objects) is another thing that needs to be thought of in much the same way.

Yes. There is so much beauty in the order of these absolute inviolable physical laws. I'm just beginning to learn how to weld, and it totally goes against my conditioning of avoiding making sparks and fusing things together. Up until now, the only arc welding I've done has been purely unintentional. ; )

As to any possible religious beliefs (or lack there of) I may hold I guess you could say I've been a member in good standing of the First Church of the Holy Arc (Reformed Electrical) for quite some time now.

Your religion commands a lot of respect because they alone possess the Arc of the Covenant. ; )

Edited December 4, 2012 by moralist

[moralist]

Welcome, moralist.

My father is an electrical engineer. I remember a few occasions where people were frightened about his behavior near electrical equipment, and he was surprised because he knew that his behavior was completely safe. Is that pretty common in your profession?

Yes it is. And you can stake your life on those impersonal absolutely objective physical laws because they never change. I work hot when its safe, and as long as you are clear, focused, and quiet inside you won't make a mistake. From the little bit I've read about the philosophy of Objectivism so far, these physical laws are in total harmony with it simply because they express absolute reality.

Edited December 4, 2012 by moralist

[aleph_1]

^{Hello Moralist,}

^{Nice choice of names for someone who likes Atlas Shrugged.}

[moralist]

^{Hello Moralist,}

^{Nice choice of names for someone who likes Atlas Shrugged.}

Hi aleph,

Thanks. I like that name, too. And reading Atlas Shrugged changed the course of my life.

[aleph_1]

Moralist,

Reading Atlas Shrugged has changed the course of my life too. The motor as a metaphor for moral values really struck me. The book illustrates the logical consequences of value choices, both good and bad. That this is based on Ayn Rand's own experience in both Tsarist and communist Russia gives it some credibility. I also appreciate the idea that our values should serve our life-interests, and that this is the purpose of a moral value system. You should see the national World War 1 Monument in Kansas City Missouri, called Liberty Memorial. There is a monument to the values of death,featuring four angels representing sacrifice, courage, patriotism and honor. It is interesting to evaluate these in reference to WW1. In any case, cheers.

[moralist]

Just looked up the Memorial... it's an excellent inspirational physical representation of the dignified beauty of moral values.

The classic art deco style is so Atlas Shrugged. It's always in our own best interest to do what's morally right because the moral law which governs the just and deserved consequences set into motion by our actions is as utterly absolute as the law of gravity.

[aleph_1]

There are two great monuments to virtue in Kansas City that I can name, and Liberty Memorial is not one of them. The first is One Kansas City Place. This was built in the 1980's at the cost of about $1/4 billion. This structure still has a productive purpose. The second is Union Station (doesn't every state have one?). It was built in 1914 by a consortium of 11 railroads at a cost in today's dollars of $1 billion. At its peak, it served 500,000 passengers per year, and with 95 foot high vaulted ceilings, it is a modern cathedral to the productive capacity of the railroads in the early 20th century. Today it serves about 15,000 Amtrak passengers per year and does not generate enough wealth to support its own maintenance. It is an anachronism.

The reason I do not think Liberty Memorial is a monument to virtue is specifically the message it was designed to impart. We are to believe that one of the great lessons of WW1 is patriotism. I would say that an extreme form of patriotism, i.e., nationalism, is partly what led to WW1--a worthless waste of human life that accomplished nothing. Another lesson it purports to represent is sacrifice. Sacrifice that accomplishes nothing is not a virtue. It is a vice. So far, Liberty Memorial is a monument to our vices.

Courage is supposed to be a lesson we bring home from WW1, as portrayed on this monument. If a virtue is an action that achieves a value, and if values are what we wish to obtain or to keep, then courage may be a virtue. In the context of WW1, I fail to see the value achieved. Military courage that accomplishes nothing of value is not a virtue.

Honor means having a good public name. In the context of WW1, we can take this in two possible ways. First, we may consider military honors. I do not see how this could be virtuous in the context of WW1 for these military honors obtained nothing of value. The second is to honor the fallen. This is the only conceivable sense in which I think that this monument represents virtue.

Other than that, it is an Egyptian Revival style monument to our moral vices in the form of a phallic symbol on the plains. It is inconceivable to me how in the immediate aftermath of WW1 these four symbols could have been chosen as the great lessons of WW1. The monument cost, in today’s dollars, about $1.25 billion. It is a building that serves no productive purpose and serves only for the contemplation of the morality of death that pervades "civilization". While it derives from the hodgepodge that is morality to most people, I am glad to have seen it, if only as an object lesson as to what morality should not serve.

[moralist]

Funny... and here I just thought it was a beautiful monument. You know far more context from actually being there. If the job on Germany had been done right, there wouldn't have been WWII.

[aleph_1]

I thought that you would appreciate this monument since "moralist" is your moniker. Public monuments are often artistic representations of values or virtues. This monument illustrates how little was learned by the American public from WW1.

I have to confess that I do not understand at all your comment about the "job on Germany" being done right. Can you elaborate?

[moralist]

I thought that you would appreciate this monument since "moralist" is your moniker. Public monuments are often artistic representations of values or virtues. This monument illustrates how little was learned by the American public from WW1.

I have to confess that I do not understand at all your comment about the "job on Germany" being done right. Can you elaborate?

World War One was never finished and neither side was defeated, so it continued as World War Two.

Germany threw in the towel when America became involved. The harsh treaty imposed the Weimar Republic on Germany and levied astronomical reparations it could not pay, so the government printed money which destroyed the economy through inflation and paved the way for Hitler to rise to power.