Mary Maxwell - Moral inertia: ideas for social action

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Page iii Moral Inertia Ideas for Social Action Mary Maxwell University Press of Colorado

Page iv Copyright 1991 by the University Press of Colorado P.O. Box 849, Niwot, Colorado 80544 First Edition All rights reserved. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, University of Southern Colorado, and Western State College. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1984 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maxwell, Mary. Moral inertia: ideas for social action / Mary Maxwell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87081-196-7 (hard: alk. paper). ISBN 0-87081-197-5 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Social ethics. 2. Social action. I. Title. HM216.M313 1991 303.3'72dc20 90-25456 CIP

Page v For K.J.W., "the saint," and for Al Ain Page vi

Page vii Contents Preface ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1. "Design Errors" in the Human Moral System 5 Chapter 2. The Trickle-up of Trust 17 Chapter 3. Ten Commandments of Interethnic Relations 23 Chapter 4. Christianity: The Voluntary Society 37 Chapter 5. Natural Law, Social Contract, and Sociobiological Theory 43 Chapter 6. Green Ideas and the Ethics of Hunger 57 Chapter 7. Moral Inertia: Contributing Factors 71 Chapter 8. Is Cruelty Okay? 87 Chapter 9. Three Major Components of Morality 115 Chapter 10. American Moral Problems 125 Chapter 11. The Elusive Butterfly of Power 141 Chapter 12. The Genetics of Racism 165 Chapter 13. The Inevitability of Justice 173 Chapter 14. What Has Mortality to Do With Morality? 181 Chapter 15. The Relationship Between Morality and Power 189 Chapter 16. Nuclear Democracy 205 Chapter 17. The Social Homunculus 211 Bibliography 225 Index 233

Page viii

Page ix Preface Like the stripper from Kansas City who "went about as fer as she could go," I feel that I have gone about as far as I can go, in this book, in discussing and analyzing morality. This volume contains nine theoretical essays and eight book reviews covering numerous aspects of morality. Topics of the books under review include government secrecy; biblical ideas about economic stewardship; the protection of the environment and socially responsible investing; the ethics of hunger; war crimes and torture; greed, materialism, and the contemporary cultural emphasis on success; individualism versus community; racism; the settlement of conflicting interests; and the problem of military bureaucracy in democratic nations. (Is there much left to talk about?) The theoretical essays wax abstract about these matters, and they look into the meaning and role of morality in society. Finding a title that succinctly conveyed the contents of this book was, of course, impossible. For a while the title Social Morality was used, but of course that phrase is redundant how can morality be anything but social? (It's hard to think what a hermit would have to be moral about!) The Structure of Morality was also considered but sounded a bit dry and, worse, risked association with the structuralist school. The title Morality and Power made it to the finals, since it conjured up the fundamental rivalry between morality and power and hinted that morality is a form of power (two themes of this book). Moral Inertia squeaked in, however, because it identified a specific problem to be grappled with in this book and yet was broad enough to cover a multitude of sins. Going on the worry that book browsers might find the informational content of the title Moral Inertia a bit on the low side, the unambiguous subtitle "Ideas for Social Action" was appended. In a preface, one is supposed to justify one's publication, explain why one wrote it, where it fits in the market, and so

Page x forth. I wrote several of the reviews for The Age Monthly Review, the literary supplement to Melbourne's daily newspaper, The Age. If you do not live in Melbourne (alas, even if you do), it is a fair guess that you have not seen these essays. The books they cover are absolute gems; need I say more to justify their inclusion? The theoretical essays came about at various times when I was struggling to account, in my own mind, for the state of contemporary morality. There seems to be a lot of brutality or at least noncaring around. Is this normal? Should one adjust oneself to it? Or should one adjust it by doing something about it? I have followed every lead I could find on the subject, especially in psychology, sociology, political science, philosophy, theology, and sociobiology. Hence, this book's place in the market may be that of a catalog of ideas about morality in society. As well, it is an attempt to draw as many connections as possible between these ideas and to force simultaneous consideration of such things as

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