The Complete Loss of the Moral imperative, by Andrew Joppa

 

The Complete Loss of the Moral imperative

by Andy Joppa

 

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral…People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

John Adams

 

There are two major methods by which a nation can influence the ultimate choices of its citizens.  They are the referred to as the moral imperative and the legal imperative.  These “imperatives” are not mutually exclusive, and both exist, to varying degrees, in most nations.  For the truly great and worthy nation, one that has earned the respect and trust of its citizens, the moral imperative is enough for it to govern and guide its nation, and its people, toward desired destinations. In those nations the legal imperative will exist, but it will not be causal in effecting the choices made…those being guided only by the moral.

 

The moral imperative is a strongly felt principle that compels that person to act. It is a kind of categorical imperative, as defined by Immanuel Kant. Kant took the imperative to be a dictate of pure reason. Not following the moral law was seen to be self-defeating and thus contrary to reason. The dictates of conscience are simply right and often don’t require further justification.

The legal imperative states that law consists of the general commands that are issued by a country or other political community to its subjects. It includes general commands enforced by courts with the sanction of physical force and failure to fulfill is almost always associated with punishment. A nation functioning only under the legal imperative is failing.

 

For most of American history the nation functioned almost entirely within the moral imperative. Laws were obeyed and taxes were paid as a dictate of conscience and were accepted as simply being right, requiring no further justification or threats of force or incarceration. Naturally, there were exceptions, but to the largest extent Americans did what they saw as appropriate as part of their moral obligation as citizens.

 

In 2022, however, the American government has lost its right to the moral imperative and many of its citizens, if not most, function almost exclusively within the legal imperative.  Of course, within this consideration, I am not discussing issues of violent criminality or those actions dictated by long standing laws for a safe and peaceful society.  I do not need a government to tell me that violence or negative actions against my fellow citizens is unacceptable…. especially when it is the government that is the major perpetrator in those areas. I am talking here only of those political decisions that attempt directional controls of our nation and the actions of its citizens.

 

What does this look like in practice? Speaking only for myself, but reflecting what, I believe, is true of millions of my fellow Americans, I now pay my taxes for one reason only…to avoid being arrested. If I could avoid paying any taxes LEGALLY, I would do so.  In my perspective this government uses my tax monies to do things that I find to be destructive to our nation…and the world.

LEGALLY holding back as much of my taxes as possible has become my guiding moral imperative (NOTE:  I have twice emphasized the word “LEGALLY,” as the actions of this government have driven my high level concern that they would not hesitate to take actions against me as a Conservative if I simply advocated withholding taxes, without that legal inclusion.  I don’t want to find myself in solitary confinement with 1/6 trespassers…I still might).

 

In addition, the fact that I am White male conservative, has moved their ability to morally influence me further and further away from having any operative potential. My government has defined me, and millions like me, as pariahs …outcasts, who are to be despised or rejected.

 

We have been categorized, within many of their institutional indoctrinations, as violent racists, all of us representing little more than hate driven extremists. A countless number of examples could be offered proving that my demographics are being treated negatively and differentially, within the actions of our federal government. No, I personally, have nothing more than a legal obligation to this country, and that is being fulfilled only under threat of force and/or incarceration.

 

I won’t belabor the blatantly illegal actions of our current government. This has been pervasive from the oval office, through the DOJ and into our entire federal bureaucracy; the FBI becoming little more than the American Gestapo…perhaps, in many ways, even worse. As I write this essay,  the IRS is being “man powered up” to allow the obviously illegal access to our bank accounts, and many other solid Americans are being fired or have  resigned because of  their unwillingness to let their body be used as a research laboratory for the government’s power based immersion in COVID-19.  Our government is criminally insane…as are, unfortunately, nearly half of the American people.

 

We can explore the hyperbolic climate change mythology (Note: I totally believe in climate change since climate has always changed) that has allowed this government to end our energy independence while it has subsidized the purposeless development of renewable energies (all except nuclear of course).  The end result of this decarbonization insanity may be thousands dying during the winter’s cold, or by lack of air conditioning in the broiling summers of the American south. We are already seeing world-wide shortages developing where our government, even if not a primary cause, has been deeply complicit. 

 

I could add to this the real possibility of world-wide famine that, at its worst, could kill hundreds of millions.  Once again, most, or all of this, because of our government is one of the most illegal, insane, destructive, governments that has ever existed. If this latter statement is true…and I believe that it can be objectively documented… it means this country has become one of the most dangerous to have ever occurred… bar none. Our nation is psychotic, but it has the wealth, military power, and influence, to enact its most heinous of schemes.

 

No… this nation has forfeited any ability to morally influence my behavior. I will do everything I can LEGALLY to thwart its chances of success.  If it succeeds, America is dead…and, perhaps, the world will be dragged to hell with us. Our current government often attempts to invoke the moral imperative. As I do not and cannot accept that they do anything for any purpose other than to gain higher levels of political and economic control, I categorially reject their invocation of any moral purpose.  Even, if seemingly, their theoretic purpose is moral, I always know that neither their motivation nor destination will match that espoused moral purpose. The reason is simple…You should never look toward the devil for any moral purpose that needs fulfillment.

 

I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do— Robert A. Heinlein