Jews and Christians see mankind inherently corrupt; a non-believer may say that the imperative for self-preservation conflicts with the social imperative. They are saying the same thing; as a species,
Part of that price is our destructiveness toward each other; we have, unlike many other species, no primary predator. We take care of that ourselves, using crime and war when ordinary selfishness and stupidity seem insufficient. Another part is our observable inability to govern ourselves for very long; our governments, assembled from corrupt humankind, are in varying degrees corrupt as well and therefore, unstable with time. Can you cite any present human society that has arrived here through time? Today’s Italians aren’t Romans anymore. The societies humans govern, degenerate, abandon their centralizing beliefs and disintegrate, eventually reforming into something different. The closest thing to an exception that comes to mind is the Roman Catholic Church, which has endured a couple thousand years and is still going. That ‘eventually’ covers a lot of time, bloodshed, suffering and death for individuals along the way. Pogo was right: “We has met the enemy, an’ he is us. ”
In today’s world, the Western nations are substantially less corrupt than the rest of the planet, reflecting their Judeo-Christian social foundations. A picture is available from Transparency International’s Corruption Map. But it’s clear that the corruption levels over much of the West are turning toward the planetary average. Judeo-Christian morality is being replaced by morally relative materialism, a system of thought that can present only such ‘morality’ as is prescribed and enforced by the state, denying as it must, any Lawgiver superior to man.
A Chinese writer compared political corruption in China to that of the United States in an informative fashion. He said that in China, corrupt politicians operated with bribery so that all their corrupt actions were outside the law. (Note: As the law operates the same way, corruption is pervasive.) The bribes of course, are intended to steer the politician’s actions. That was unsurprising, Chinese corruption is historic. But he added that in the U.S, corruption has been legalized via the tax code. Non-profit political organizations legally move money where the politicians want it and provide funding for desired political goals, all quite legally. And the politicians know who is providing that money and what it is that is wanted in return. So 501 (c) Non-Governmental Organizations are to this Chinese analyst, merely legally organized corruption. He seems correct.
From this view and adding the current level of political honesty (noting that political fact-checkers are popping up regularly, awarding ‘Pinocchios’ to the President and Congress Folk) Western corruption must be well on the way up. Crony capitalism can’t thrive without it and it seems to be thriving.
So, Western Judeo-Christian society is passing into history as its governments join the failed governments of the past. And untold numbers of individuals will pay the price for those who enjoy whatever progress brings to replace it.
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