Six Moral Concerns of All Political Movements
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In episode 70 of this podcast, I asked the question, What is the value of freedom? When the political right and the political left in this country debate issues, the value each group places upon the virtue of freedom is what fundamentally makes the difference between the two groups. Maybe that’s overly simplifying their differences but it appears to be a relatively accurate simplification.
Well, I was reading some articles on Reason Magazine’s website this morning and I came across one about the Occupy Wall Street rallies. The article was very interesting to me because it proposes a theory about the way in which we can categorize the moral concerns of pretty much any political movement or culture of ideas. They list six basic moral concerns we have.
First, there is care versus harm. Second, fairness versus cheating. Third, liberty versus oppression. Fourth, loyalty versus betrayal. Fifth, authority versus subversion. Last but not least, sanctity versus degradation.
As you can see, they have expanded my take on the various political ideologies. I described our political differences as being a matter of liberty versus tyranny but they add five other virtues, if you will, to the list. Here’s a portion of what I said on episode 70.
Those on the left are very much concerned with the same issues we are on the right, they just don’t view freedom as this higher ideal like we do. For me, I believe freedom is even a godly, biblical principle. I love that verse from Leviticus which says, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” But many don’t feel the same way about it. It’s not that they don’t want freedom, it’s just a cherry on top that would be nice but there are more important things. For instance, they believe helping the poor, protecting the environment, ensuring equality, and things like this take priority over freedom. In fact, it would be selfish to put individual liberty over some of these other things.
These “other things” are basically the five additional categories given by the author of the post on Reason Magazine. It’s pretty interesting to think about the way in which the various political ideologies prioritize these groups of virtues. For instance, the libertarian places liberty versus oppression at the very top of his priority list. Most of your typical conservatives–while sounding a lot like freedom is at the top of their list–actually place freedom under loyalty and sanctity. I say that because patriotism and love of country fall into the loyalty category and social issues like gay marriage and drug use fall into the sanctity category. Let’s face it. Conservatives may use the “don’t tread on me” slogans, but they are willing to sacrifice a degree of freedom for the War on Terror or forcing their morality on the nation.
It seems to me most liberals, on the other hand, would be fairness at the top of their priority list. Fairness is a wonderful thing depending on how you define it. For most liberals, unfortunately, fairness is defined by equal outcomes rather than equal opportunities. In this article, the author compares Occupy Wall Street with Tea Parties. Concerning the principle of fairness, this is what he writes.
As a point of comparison, a similar look at signs found at the Tea Party rallies suggests that protesters there are also chiefly concerned with fairness. The key to understanding Tea Partiers’ morality, though, is that they want to restore the law of karma. They want laziness and cheating to be punished, and they see liberalism and liberal government as an assault on that project. The liberal fairness of OWS diverges from conservative and libertarian fairness in that liberals often think that equality of outcomes is evidence of fairness.
He expresses there a remote similarity between conservatives and liberals when it comes to the principle of fairness, but I guess that’s kind of my point. Regardless of our ideologies and political beliefs, we’re all concerned with all six of these virtues. We just prioritize them differently.
As far as liberals go, next to fairness, I suppose care versus harm would come second. Compassion for the poor, for instance, would fall into the care category. Third for them would probably be liberty except it’s not the “get government off our backs” type liberty they’re demanding. They focus on such things as the freedom to protest or freedom from corrupt corporations.
Anyway, you should take a look at this list and evaluate yourself. How would you prioritize these moral foundations? Keep in mind, it’ll take some thought. As a Christian, I might be tempted to glance at the list and think, Care. That should be at the top of the list. But if I give it real thought I’d know that I don’t want to be forced by government to care. I want freedom so I can willingly care. Everyone is different. This is just an interesting way to consider yourself and those with different political ideologies.
“Moral Foundations | 074 Coffee & Cigarettes” Transcript
The Moral Foundations of Occupy Wall Street | Reason | October 20, 2011
http://reason.com/archives/2011/10/20/the-moral-foundations-of-occup/singlepage
About The Author
Jeremy Sarber
I'm the pastor of one of the most blessed churches in all the world. I'm married to the most wonderful woman to walk the face of the earth. I'm host of possibly the most unconventional podcast on the Internet. I am thankful because I deserve none of it. Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email
