The Free Market is great blah blah blah. I agree in general. But does that make it right? Intensive Chicken farming says the free market has its weaknesses. An interesting program on TV right now explains the cruel and sad life of the simple chicken. If I want to eat chicken or eggs, then free range is the way to go.
In discussions of morality, ethics and how we treat our fellow man, it all comes down to how we live our lives and how much we care about how others live theirs. I guess we could include chickens in that too. I'm not arguing the life of the chicken is as valuable as a human, and I'm not arguing that we should not eat chicken. I'm suggesting the well formed person cares about cruelty.
The gift to man is free will. We have choices to make, and we make good choices and bad choices. Our duty is to learn how to rise above our base and imperfect nature and truly be human.
Doesn't that sound quietly stirring? Well, as Hugh discovered, if your chook is a couple of pounds too much money, then ethics, morality and issues of animal cruelty can take a flying jump.
I've picked chickens, but there are any numbers of important issues that could strike a chord in different readers.
So how do we solve this problem? Some grant the power to the State to legislate our morality and we argue for standards and regulation. Some leave it to nature and morality is whatever the market pays, rights going to an owner, and property defined as whatever they can buy, and whatever they then sell. Some look to God, and in between us and God, is the Word and the example of the Son of Man.
What constraints do each of these place on our behaviour? What do we give up when we cease to be responsible for our own actions? What is our measure on morality?
The advantages of a blog. Random thoughts, that over a series of posts, might eventually say something. Stay tuned.
In discussions of morality, ethics and how we treat our fellow man, it all comes down to how we live our lives and how much we care about how others live theirs. I guess we could include chickens in that too. I'm not arguing the life of the chicken is as valuable as a human, and I'm not arguing that we should not eat chicken. I'm suggesting the well formed person cares about cruelty.
The gift to man is free will. We have choices to make, and we make good choices and bad choices. Our duty is to learn how to rise above our base and imperfect nature and truly be human.
Doesn't that sound quietly stirring? Well, as Hugh discovered, if your chook is a couple of pounds too much money, then ethics, morality and issues of animal cruelty can take a flying jump.
I've picked chickens, but there are any numbers of important issues that could strike a chord in different readers.
So how do we solve this problem? Some grant the power to the State to legislate our morality and we argue for standards and regulation. Some leave it to nature and morality is whatever the market pays, rights going to an owner, and property defined as whatever they can buy, and whatever they then sell. Some look to God, and in between us and God, is the Word and the example of the Son of Man.
What constraints do each of these place on our behaviour? What do we give up when we cease to be responsible for our own actions? What is our measure on morality?
The advantages of a blog. Random thoughts, that over a series of posts, might eventually say something. Stay tuned.
I think it's a balance, i don't want too much state involvement but i believe there is a place for the people to have their say through the state. Keeping the nanny state interference to as much of a minimum as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think part of the problem is that libertarians and so forth approve of everyone acting in their own best interests, instead of for the greater good.
ReplyDeleteWe have a situation now where if Hanover Finance become compliant the taxpayer will bail out Eric Watson and his mates. This will happen and it is obscene as Citigroup here have said.