PleaseAlsoSee: MORALITY: Public, Private & Personal at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/message/51800 <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/message/51800>
-TLP --- In [email protected], "Terry L Parker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > (Due to popular demand, the system is often too busy to respond; so try > back often. Right click playbacks to 'save target as...' to download > selections to your computer for replay later at your convenience and as > often as you want) > > > > the Fountainhead (Download ONLY) > <http://txliberty.dyndns.org/inetpub/wwwroot/webfiles/FountainheadH.wmv> > Ayn Rand's study of a brilliant architect (Gary Cooper) whose integrity > allows no compromise in his work. Dominique: Patricia Neal. Wynand: > Raymond Massey. Keating: Kent Smith. Cameron: Henry Hull. Toohey: Robert > Douglas. Dean: Paul Stanton. Enright: Ray Collins. Directed by King > Vidor. (1949) > http://txliberty.dyndns.org/inetpub/wwwroot/webfiles/FountainheadH.wmv > <http://txliberty.dyndns.org/inetpub/wwwroot/webfiles/FountainheadH.wmv> > > > > > NOTE: if any of these LoRez internet playbacks stimulate your interest > in getting a clearer copy, please 'Google' that selection to locate a > legal source if one is not otherwise given already. > > -Terry Liberty Parker > AND Find More Free On-demand Playbacks On-line via > AustinLibertyInterNet Radio/TV > at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LibertyProspects/links > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LibertyProspects/links> > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "Victor Bozzo" vbozzo1@ wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Home | About | Columnists | Blog | Subscribe | Donate > > > > > > Why Integrity Matters > > by Butler Shaffer > > by Butler Shaffer > > > > > > DIGG THIS > > > > Two news stories arose in the same week, each illustrating the > significance of living one's life with integrity. The first involved > allegations that Republican Congressman Mark Foley had engaged in > explicit sexual e-mail conversations with teen-aged male pages. The > other informed us of the killing and wounding of a number of young Amish > children by a deranged man. In the mirror images of these events are > reflected both the pathological nature of our world, as well as a vision > of how a society might function when men and women live with principled > wholeness. > > > > By "integrity," I mean living one's life without contradiction or > moral confusion; being integrated - or centered - in thought and action; > expressing both spiritual and material values without conflict; and > having an uncomplicated mind with which to function, creatively, in a > complicated world. > > > > The reaction of the political establishment and its self-styled > opinion leaders to the Foley matter illustrates the utter lack of > integrity in political systems. Statists and a bamboozled public can > recite the virtues of "peace," "freedom," "protection of life and > property," "responsibility," and other life-sustaining qualities to be > sustained by the state while, at the same time, engaging in wars, > restraints on individual liberty, the killing and looting of > individuals, and acting without being accountable for the consequences > of their behavior. > > > > The state - which enjoys a legal monopoly on the use of violence - > does nothing more than steal people's property, force them to do what > they do not choose to do, and kill millions upon millions of persons > whom it is convenient to its interests to destroy in wars and genocides. > Such perversions - far more damaging to young people and to a nation > than are lewd e-mails - pass without criticism within the halls of > state, academia, or media studios. That so many of us continue to see > the political system as essential to "social order" reflects our > intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy, as well as providing testimony to > the remarkable effectiveness of the state's propaganda machinery. > > > > The state survives on our individualized lack of integrity. For most > of us, our thinking and emotions are in conflict; our principles are > muddled. It is our weaknesses that keep it strong. Not wanting to > confront the contradictions that lie within our unconscious minds, many > of us eagerly project our self-directed fears onto others, and demand > their punishment, a debilitating practice upon which the state depends > for its existence. Mr. Foley provides a vivid example of how this trait > corrupts all sense of integrity in both the individual and the political > institution. As a man with an apparent penchant for sexual conversations > with teen-aged boys over the Internet, he was Co-Chairman of the Missing > and Exploited Children Caucus, and authored legislation - "Internet > Crimes Against Children" - that may have criminalized his actions. > > > > The political establishment has circled the wagons against Mr. Foley, > treating his offense as sui generis. But his wrongs pale in comparison > with those regularly engaged in by virtually all members of congress and > the executive branch: including the use of outright lies, forgeries, and > other forms of deceit to fabricate conflicts with other nations. On the > basis of such intrinsic and pervasive dishonesty, the state sends young > men and women off to foreign countries to kill or maim innocent people, > and be killed or maimed themselves. The use of torture against anyone > the state deems "suspicious" is now widely accepted in Congress and, > apparently, among the general public. Such dishonest and destructive > acts continue with only token objection. But let someone direct > lascivious e-mail messages to teenagers and the forces of self-righteous > indignation are loosed. > > > > By contrast, if there is a sizeable community of people in America who > live with a more centered sense of wholeness than do the Amish, I have > not discovered it. I have long admired these people, and spend one class > session each year discussing them in my informal systems of order > seminar. One year, after a lengthy description and analysis of their > ways, one of my students asked whether it was possible for non-Amish > people to go live with them. "Why would you want to do so?," I inquired. > "Do you share their religious views, or have a desire to do farm work? > Are you prepared to live the austere lifestyle upon which they insist?" > > > > My student answered "no" to these questions, acknowledging that she > was too much of a Southern California person to make such a fundamental > change in how she would live. "So, what is so powerful about the Amish > that attracts you to the possibility of living amongst them?", I asked. > "Is there something about the integrity of their lives that you find so > compelling?" I then urged my students to explore the question of whether > there is a way of emulating the Amish system in a major urban setting. > > > > It is the integrity of the Amish that attracts most of us and makes us > want to defend their freedom to live as they do. Over the years, state > and federal governments have tried to force the Amish into their > coercive systems, such as government schools, Social Security, military > conscription, jury duty, etc. The Amish - consistent with their peaceful > ways - have always refused such participation. I recall, in the > mid-1960s, the efforts of one state school system to force Amish > children to attend government schools. A front-page newspaper photograph > was about as expressive of the contrast between these two cultures as > you could find: an armed sheriff's deputy chasing Amish children through > a cornfield in order to force them onto a school-bus. The scene was so > repugnant to any sense of human decency that even most Republicans and > Democrats insisted that the state drop its efforts. There seems to be a > widely-held sentiment in society - perhaps faint echoes from our dying > inner voices - that the Amish should be left alone. > > > > Those who wonder if it is possible for people to live in a condition > of anarchy need look no further than the example of the Amish. These > people refuse to have any dealings with the state - except for the taxes > they are forced to pay - and respect the inviolability of one another's > person or property interests. Their contracts with one another are > grounded in nothing more than mutual promises to perform. Their system > of protection and security is found in one another, not in institutions. > Anyone who deviates from Amish community standards need fear no jails, > fines, beatings, or confiscation of their property: the neighbors will > simply refuse to deal with them - to withhold their approval - until the > offender reforms. > > > > To the Amish, their work - particularly as farmers and carpenters - is > the worldly expression of their religious views. Unlike many of the rest > of us - whose divisive separation from our work is reflected in negative > bumper-stickers - the Amish find wholeness in their labors. Nor do the > Amish regard technology as an "evil"; they resist bringing anything into > their communities that will make them dependent on the outside world. > Thus, the automobile is not looked upon as the "work of the devil," but > as a tool which, if brought into their lives, will make them dependent > upon tire and parts manufacturers, oil companies, and the suppliers of > other auto necessities, the net effect of which would be to destroy > their system. > > > > The Amish community provides its members no more guarantees of > protection from hostile elements than does the dominant political > structure in America. Not unlike our experiences on 9/11, the Amish > world was terribly disrupted by the intrusion of a destructive force > from the outside. Though the innocent victims were at work in a humble > schoolhouse rather than towering skyscrapers, the Amish shared with > others the painful consequences of disturbed men from a deranged world > who could find only in their suicidal attacks the most effective > expression of their conflict-ridden madness. > > > > I doubt, however, that members of the Amish community will respond to > the slaughter of their children in the same way most Americans reacted > to 9/11. Even with the holes ripped into the fabric of their culture, > the Amish will be able to transcend these horrible events without > sacrificing the integrity upon which their lives are founded. They will > not put aside the principled nature of their society, but will find > comfort and energy within it. They have already demonstrated this. > > > > But for those of us who still struggle with the meaning and effects of > 9/11, and who do so on the basis of principles and practices that are a > mass of confusion, conflict, and contradiction, our responses have > proven consistent with the normally neurotic - and often psychotic - > foundations upon which our social systems rest. Our alleged principles > and values - which have long found expression only as empty abstractions > rather than integrated into our sense of being - were among the first > unwanted cargo to be thrown overboard, lest they prove a hindrance to > the onrushing sea of fear and doubt in which we found ourselves. We > eagerly jettisoned our compasses as well, allowing the politically > ambitious to chart new directions for us, and obeying their urgings to > "stay the course" to wholly unknown destinations. > > > > The Amish will survive their pain, bruises, and broken hearts, but > they will do so intact. Their values will sustain them, while ours have > been lost in the darkness in which we live our lives. Such are the > pragmatic, real-world, "bottom line" contrasts - and consequences - > between living with and without integrity. > > > > Perhaps my seminar student was on the right track when she asked > whether it was possible to live in such a community as the Amish enjoy. > > > > October 10, 2006 > > > > Butler Shaffer [send him e-mail] teaches at the Southwestern > University School of Law. He is the author of Calculated Chaos: > Institutional Threats to Peace and Human Survival. > > > > Copyright © 2006 LewRockwell.com > > > > Butler Shaffer Archives > > > > > > > > > > > > Back to LewRockwell.com Home Page > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! 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