The Dispersion of Moral Energies

Humans have long been, and remain, deeply attached to morality. Even confirmed criminals will routinely say things like “That ain’t right,” which is purely a moral judgment.

This focus on morality holds firm across the panorama of human of life. Examine any workplace and you’ll find a long stream of moral judgments: “He didn’t treat me right,” “She’s arrogant,” “That’s a man you can respect,” and so on.

This moral focus of ours is a good thing, and says a great deal good about us. That said, we’ve allowed our moral energies to be wasted. And the crucial aspect of this isn’t that our moral energies have been suppressed (though that sometimes happens), but that they’ve been dispersed; so widely dispersed that they are often of no use at all. 

Here’s the problem in a nutshell:

Humans have limited amounts of energy, and that includes energy for willpower and moral concerns. Disperse them and there’s insufficient energy for the important uses.

This is precisely what has been happening to us, and especially to people who spend their time on TV and social media.

Their are many systems in this world which can only endure if insulated from moral scrutiny. That’s something of a frightening fact, but it remains a fact. And so, this is a natural consequence:

Systems that would lose legitimacy if held to clear moral standards (like the Golden Rule) must redirect the moral energies of the populace into non-threatening directions.

If what you want requires that people don’t turn a moral eye toward you, it’s best to spread their moral energies every which way, so that they don’t have much left in reserve. (Naked suppression backfires over time.) 

The internal energies of a mainstream couple, for example, are almost fully directed away from serious moral issues. This couple likely devotes their emotional and moral strength toward whatever terror is in the news that day, to sports teams, to hating one or the other political party, to complaints about all the small moral failures they saw that day, and so on. After all that, they’re simply too tired for weightier matters; it’s easier to spit out a slogan and roll into bed. 

And so the entities on this planet which are vulnerable to moral examination have learned to disperse moral energies. They find safety in people being too depleted of strength to focus on them.  

Finally…

It’s important to understand that we (all normal humans, as best I can tell) were born vulnerable to this. We are easy marks for anyone who uses our attachment to morality as a tool.

We need to recognize this.

Our moral energies are precious; we must direct them to where they matter, and not be tricked into throwing them every which way. 

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Paul Rosenberg

freemansperspective.com

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