On 6 Mar 01, at 11:07, Adam C. Lipscomb wrote:
> I think that, before claims of moral superiority are bandied about, we might
> want to determine which moral standards are being used.
>
> Off the top of my head, here's some of my questions on the list of behaviors
> for nations:
> (1) Are elections free and open to adult citizens of this nation?
> Specifically, are the polls accessible, are the ballots clearly marked, is a
> reasonable effort made to ensure that citizens are allowed to vote without
> undue pressure for the candidates of their choice?
> (2) Is legitimate political opposition (that is, non-violent) permitted
> within this country? To extend this, are the citizens of this nation
> permitted free speech (barring libel, slander and copyright theft), action
> (within limits that I am willing to discuss) and movement (no internal
> passports, etc).
> (3) Is punishment for crimes humane and rational? Are the accused allowed
> to mount a defense in court, are they afforded specific protections similar
> to those covered in the US Constitution, and is the death penalty (if used)
> applied fairly and rarely?
> (4) Is David Hasselhoff regarded as a serious artist, and are his movies and
> television shows regarded as being of "good quality" by more than 10% of the
> population?
>
> Some food for thought and discussion, I hope.
>
> Adam C. Lipscomb
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ICQ# 32384792
>
Kudos for the attempt as defining national morality. The
discussion was starting to get a bit vague...
I do wonder a little about the third item, though. Perhaps it's just
something of a knee jerk reaction whenever I see America used
and the sole standard for ideal government. After all, many of the
protections the American constitution includes are derived from
English common law. Aside from that, I have quibbles with the
Second Amendment. (Gives citizens the right to arms, for those of
you outside the U.S.)
On the other hand, the Hasselhoff scale should probably be
expanded to cover not only morality, but quality of life, amount of
sanity, and state civilization in general. Sucks to be Germany,
don't it?
:-)
-Brian Giles
