America’s Moral Decline

The view that morality in America has declined considerably over recent decades is quite prevalent, and anecdotal evidence supports that view. It seems certain that dishonesty of all types in people of all walks of life has become the norm, driving honesty out of use. Such dishonesty is reminiscent of the old economic adage that bad money drives out good.

Two things about this view trouble me.

First, when the  moralists in our society speak about morality’s decline, they restrict the realm of immorality to a narrow set of actions and fail to mention its more important and relevant aspects. Perhaps the hue and cry over abortion and homosexuality is just so loud that it drowns out rest, but the fact that our powerful politicians and business-persons have taken dishonesty to new heights seems far more important to the welfare of this society than abortion, homosexuality, and other sexual predilections are. Sexual purity will not save this society from the deleterious effects of the corruption that seems to have pervaded our national lifestyles. We should, perhaps, take Theodore Roosevelt’s advice that the first task of the statesmanship is to “befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics”. But I don’t hear any of America’s vociferous moralists attacking this development.

Second, I’m not convinced that there has been a moral decline in America, because I don’t find any evidence that Americans were ever imbued with morals. Our history of biased treatment of non-Europeans,  our acquiescence to slavery for a century after the nation’s founding, our genocide of native Americans (“The only good Indian is a dead Indian.”), our exploitation of workers in both pay and dangerous working conditions, and our haughty disdain of peoples in other nations exhibit not one shred of moral inclinations.

Yet, things in America have certainly gotten worse. The reason isn’t a change in moral temperament, however. Rather it is the result of increased means.

Although technology has made life superficially easier than it once was, it has also provided scoundrels with tools that were never available before. Although politicians may always have lied, until the advent of mass communications, the influence of their lies was limited. Today those same lies can be used to motivate an unsuspecting population to endorse policies that are not only deleterious but downright evil. Give a moral person a weapon, and he will guard it with care and ensure that it is used only for good purposes; give a scoundrel a weapon, and he will use it at every opportunity to get what he wants. Unfortunately, technology hands scoundrels new weapons almost every day.

Then what do the rest of us do? Unfortunately we emulate our leaders if for no other reason to protect ourselves. No matter where morality is taught, in our homes, our schools, our churches, wherever, the most effective teacher is the world of affairs. When we find ourselves engulfed in lies and cheated in almost every economic transaction, in the absence of any other defense, we lie and cheat too. An employer who won’t pay an honest will be stolen from. An insurance company that inflates premiums will find itself receiving inflated claims. A business that inflates prices will be pilfered.

Is there a lesson here? Yes, but people won’t like it. Morality in America, or anywhere else, will not be improved so long as society’s elite engage in immoral activities. So unless a society’s major institutions—government, business, the legal system—are reformed, trying to reform ordinary people is a lost cause.