Temporary Archive: Suzanne Brockmann's Message Board

Re:
How do we decide what the best long term goal is?

well what occurred to me is a "good moral code" maybe contrary to "for the good of the country and I would say here "that best long-term goal" is always measured against that which will keep the US globally powerful-
plus if you are looking at the "benefit of the whole" that does not necessarily trickle down to each individual,
in fact on the contrary - eg., the execution of hostages in Iraq, others could have done what Germany did - but refused to do so and individual rights were sacrificed for the "benefit of the whole", so the nation would not be held hostage - - so then letting hostages be sacrificed - where would that choice fit into "a good moral code"?

How can someone without a good moral code strategize and extrapolate for the long term with the benefit of the whole in mind?

here again, I would say "moral code" does not enter into it - my thought here was most people would definitely say that killing another human being is an issue for them within their own moral code - however, it is exactly what we require/expect of those who defend us as a nation -

so then the question begs, does something become "moral" as a result of the necessity of the specific cause or task?

and I do not think you will find many politicians that conform to the ideal of a "good moral code" - rather it's laws, a system of checks and balances, that matter more than a good moral code - as the "moral code" seems to be defined by the goal -
and isn't it then reduced to a judgment, based on perception?