Civic Morality: Part I Introduction

 

“To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea." James Madison in the Virginia Convention.

            Our current post-post-modern culture eschews any discussions of morality, personal or civic. Yet the corrosion or weakening of civic morality produces grievous effects in our cultural and civil life, and I believe a return to or strengthening of civic-morality would address many of the problems our nation faces. As a practicing Christian, I have often avoided discussions of Civic Morality, thinking any such discussions tainted by a lack of emphasis on the Bible. I was quite wrong in my approach. When we abandon the concept of civic morality and instead embrace a more nihilistic or laissez-faire approach to societal interaction, we head down a road which leads away from a well-functioning society and good governance.

Our current struggles would be eased by the embrace of civic morality. But what exactly is civic morality? As defined by PhD Herzog Civic morality is the belief that engaging in social life is good coupled with acting in ways that are intended to benefit others beyond the self and ultimately to promote public good. Patricial Herzog PhD in “Handbook of the Sociology of Morality, Volume 2” Halman and Gelissen go on to further distinguish civic morality from personal morality by describing civic morality as having to do with activities such as public law compliance, respect for public order, and obedience to norms and rules, in “Values in Life Domains in a Cross-National Perspective.” While these are excellent starting points, I believe we should go on to lay out some of the foundational beliefs and activities that make up civic morality.

I would define civic morality in the following way: Civic morality is a constellation of beliefs and behaviors shared by a society or culture that shape and undergird acceptable norms of behavior within that society and that promote the good or betterment of all its members. I’m not talking about a moral code arising from  a specific religious practice or affiliation. Instead, I want to examine core values that a culture or society seeks to inculcate from one degree to another in all its members to better facilitate the smooth functioning of society and the overall betterment of all its members. While a society or culture will not always have full consensus regarding the exact definition of civic morality, a general consensus keeps a society or culture working together for the benefit of all its members. Over the next few weeks, I will post a series of essays discussing civic-morality. In these essays, we will examine truthfulness, courageousness,  faithfulness (personal and corporate), generosity, kindness, civility, cooperation, patience, and forgiveness. While there are many others, these nine virtues, when embraced, taught, and reinforced by a society or culture, help shape a state in which the most people benefit from and grow. Examining these traits as practiced by a culture helps us understand their importance and provides insight into how we might go about encouraging them.

As we head into the coming elections, thinking through the importance of civic morality and how various candidates embrace and represent these traits weighs heavily on my mind. Our current political process, so heavily influenced by party affiliation and well-heeled and often shadowy doners, gives little thought to the moral fitness of a candidate. This is a problem that afflicts both parties, exerting a pernicious and corrosive effect on public policy and governance. Too many of our office holders, untethered to any fixed societal moral code, make decisions that effect millions of people across the nation. Frequently these policy decisions benefit a small handful of political allies and are injurious to many others, sometimes even the majority of the electorate. We need to evaluate our candidates on the fitness of their civic morality. At its best, government in a representative republic requires compromise, the give and take of our political process. Even though for many citizens compromise is a dirty word, effective and good governance requires it. Those candidates who best exemplify our civic-morality possess the character needed to navigate the often-murky waters of government. We need to evaluate candidates on their character more than their pronouncements of party fidelity. This is why a return to character matters and civic-morality is so very important. Additionally, civic-morality undergirds the smooth function of our society, culture, business. All of the values listed above enable us to work together with some degree of confidence in our neighbors and business partners. Embracing them and encouraging their growth will improve all of our lives, daily and long term.

Please leave a comment, like, or dislike. 

The Tanker and Poetry

 

            “Sir, I’m just a DAT. I can’t understand that.”

            It was the early ‘90s at what was then Fort Hood, Texas. I was serving as the Signal Officer in an Armor Battalion, 3-66 Armor to be exact and training a young officer on how to use his radio. Now, I’m not a technically oriented person; however, the Army in all its collective wisdom decided that I would be a Signal Officer. In fact, my first assignment as an officer was to 5^th Signal Command, a fixed station unit which used satellite and terrestrial microwave technologies to extend voice and data communications from the supporting base to tactical units deployed to Europe and around the globe. Survival as an officer in such a highly technical organization required mastery of many different technologies and the leadership required to employ them. I was in over my head. Survival and promotion required that I learn and study. Fortunately, I served alongside some of the best NCOs and technicians in the free world who made my success their success. I went from that heady technical world into the tactical army replete with the hulking M1A1 Abrams and all the associated heavy machinery of armored warfare, and as the Signal Officer I was required to master a new set of technologies, FM and AM radio and the various computer systems required to shoot, move, and communicate. I also had to teach the tankers to do the same.

            DAT stands for Dumb Ass Tanker, a moniker the tankers tossed around with great aplomb and pride; though it was not a term they would accept from a non-tanker such as myself. The M1A1 Abrams is an incredibly complex piece of equipment. It uses a turbine engine, taken from the aviation world and modified to drive the 50-ton behemoth. Properly employed, an Abrams equipped battalion is an incredibly lethal organization able to rapidly kill and destroy over amazing distances. To appropriately fight such a tank or organization requires the mastery of many different skills and is not, repeat not,  possible for those of limited intellect. Though they loved to wrap themselves in the mantle of the DAT, tankers, good tankers, are among the smartest individuals to wear the uniform. Years later, after I retired from the Army, I plunged into a new world.

            I sought to satiate my innate abilities and teach English and Social Studies in the High School and Junior College arena. This required a return to school. So, I found myself in Graduate School. On a whim I signed up for a course Poetry, Form and Function. Dr. John Poch, the professor, asked me to stop by for a chat before the semester started. He informed me that this class was not sitting around and chatting about poems over coffee. While we would read and discuss the great poems through the ages, we would be required to write a poem each walk, using a particular form…none of them free-form. He wanted to see if I was willing to work in such a highly technical environment. Again, I was in quite over my head; however, with his help I learned and grew. I found that the world of poetry was much more technical and thrilling than I had ever known. I never became a great poet, that required a level of commitment, inspiration, and ability I was either unwilling or unable to summon. But I found a new love of the world of poetry, especially the Metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century. This new world of letters, social studies, and education required mastery of a new set of skills for survival.

            Success in any field of endeavor requires mastery of skills. It has always been that way and always will be that way. Pick any field and you will find that success hinges upon mastery. Blue-collar, white-collar, or techie, it does not matter. Mastery leads to success. My grandfathers and uncles, all blue-collar men were masters of their chosen trades. My father, a history professor, was a master of his chosen trade. And mastery, requires an intensive effort to understand the intricacies of craft, intellectual prowess in other words. The world is and has always been a complex place impervious to easy formulas or pat answers. This is what makes developing a political philosophy based on memes so hazardous.

            A meme is an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media.¹ These fill the social media world and often induce a good laugh. But many people are starting to develop their political or religious world view through data gathered from memes. A recent opinion piece in the New York Times detailed this cultural shift. ² And while this article focused on conservative efforts in this arena, liberal groups display the same sorts of changes. “Influencers” seek to inform their audience through memes, claiming that modern youth do not have the attention span or time to consume and digest political material presented in more traditional formats. They claim to influence their target audience via memes and other similar formats, and they appear to be quite successful in their stated goal. But there is one glaring problem.

            The issues surrounding political theory defy easy explanation via meme. The problems we face as a nation or culture are much more complex. They always have been. This is not some sort of new societal geopolitical problem. A study of history reveals that once you get more than two people living together, problems become very complicated, refusing easy definitions and solutions. All of us love easy definitions and simple solutions; however, the real world does not work that way. It is impossible to compress a serious problem, such as the Israeli Palestinian conflict or progressive tax theory, into a short catchy phrase which entertains.

            We live in a complex world with many competing constituencies. Finding solutions which adequately services these, sometimes widely divergent, groups takes knowledge, understanding, time, and wisdom. You cannot employ a shortcut, but that is exactly what many “influencers” claim to do. They posit a new generation, which understands the world intuitively and is able to bypass the work of learning. They claim that “only young people know what the new world is like.”³ They purposefully sell an entire generation short and pander to its baser more ill-informed instincts.

            Such a crass and self-serving paradigm leads to faulty myopic policy which ultimately separates and does not serve the nation or society as a whole. Good policy takes thoughtful communication between stakeholders. Comprehensive strategy and programs require some level of compromise. Memes corrode compromise by creating cartoonish representatives of “the other” which bear little resemblance to actual people or groups. We need to stop flinging such snarky and sarcastic images at each other, claiming to have “owned” the opposition. Good governance, governance which serves the greater good for the greatest number of people, takes time, effort, intelligence, cooperation, and wisdom. We ought to jettison memes as a means of creating policy and building consensus, putting them in their proper place, a tidbit of humor that causes a chuckle. Let us leave the real work of developing a coherent and cogent policy to thoughtful consideration and hard work.       

           

1.  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme

2. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/trolling-democracy.html

3.  https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/trolling-democracy.html

Juneteenth

            “@#%$!&* Baby Killers!” The epithet joined by a half-crushed beer can, bottle rocket, and offal soared out of a crowd on the other side of West Colfax Ave. in Denver, Colorado. It was the summer of 1981 and two friends of mine, fellow service members, and I were hoofing it back to Lowery, Air Force Base in the middle of the night. We’d attended a midnight movie, forgetting that the city buses stopped running at midnight. Being young and in shape we were unfazed by the prospect of the several-mile hike back to the barracks. However, we were surprised at the vehement treatment by the late-night crowds. In the days of long-haired rockers our buzz cuts identified us as military as clearly as if we’d worn our uniforms. We made it back to the barracks after a long and interesting night, but that is another story for another time. What really stuck with me was the hurt and anger I felt at being targeted by my appearance and nothing else.

            That experience has given me a small insight into the daily struggles that people of color face. Unlike my fellow citizens of color, I eventually left the military and grew a beard, and unless I wear my “Army-Retired” hat no one can really tell that I was once a soldier. Societal thoughts and practices eventually shifted, and thanks replaced curses. Unfortunately for my fellow citizens of color they don’t change, and our culture still suffers from lingering prejudice, which is why Juneteenth is so important.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

            While progress has been made, we have not arrived at that long-anticipated day Dr. King spoke of so eloquently. Those of color and other marginalized populations still suffer the indignities of prejudice. Often and in many ways, the playing field is tilted away from them. They still suffer from, often unseen, systems which make progress achingly difficult, if not impossible. To reach the goal of content of character we must continually strive for it, and that is why Juneteenth is so important.

            Remembering and celebrating Juneteenth helps reinvigorate our commitment to equality and opportunity. The hoary hand of prejudice often rises out of the tomb of historical eradication and must be re-slain and re-entombed. Sadly, the stream of human depravity flows through each generation. We cannot simply dust off our hands and say, “The job is done.” Juneteenth reminds us to find and root out what remains of societal and cultural prejudice. In many ways we’ve come far, let us not grow lax and let lingering hatred erode our progress. Each Juneteenth offers us an opportunity to think and reapply ourselves to the work of creating a more noble culture. Looking around provides us ample opportunities to address this centuries-old problem, ample opportunities to build a better society, ample opportunities to make a land where all can breathe free. Juneteenth is a good day to pause and recommit ourselves to the work still required.

Valuing Life and Families

 

With the issuance of the “Dobbs V. Jackson” ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back “Roe V. Wade” and the ensuing series of decisions that sustained it. Anti-abortion activists heralded this as a great victory. But is the fight for life and family values over? Can those of us who claim to embrace the sanctity of life and support the family stop and rest now? Is that struggle over? I do not think so. I do not think our responsibility as a civilization and nation ends once a child is born. We ought to set the conditions for long-term success. The more of us who excel and reach our full potential the better off we will all be. So, here are a few things that those of us who fall into the “sanctity of life” and “family values” might turn our energies toward.

1.     Wage Disparity: Far too many men and women must work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. A man or woman ought to be able to work a forty hour a week job and support their family. They should make enough so that both partners do not have to work. While both parents working is viable, it ought not to be necessary to enjoy a decent standard of living for a family. We need to support those practices and policies that lead to better wage distribution.

2.    Access to Healthcare: We should be ashamed that we’re the only industrialized nation that does not provide healthcare for all of its citizens. While challenging, this is not in the too hard to do box. We can develop a system that provides for all citizens and supports a thriving medical community/industry. No one should have to choose between paying their bills and getting adequate healthcare.

3.     Access to Quality Education: We need to elevate the societal resources we direct toward education. Too many of our programs bleed much needed funds from public schools. We need to address the excessive costs of public university education. Monies spent on education are an investment in the health of our nation and society. We should seriously consider backing away from high stakes testing and return professional development and management of teachers to principals. As part of this effort, we need to stop the endless criticism of teachers and instead elevate them as professionals who dedicate their lives to educating future doctors, lawyers, engineers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and other professionals we need for our society to function. The majority of teachers maintain a razor focus on their content area. Contrary to popular opinion, they do not have time for extraneous material. We should let them teach and stop berating them.

4.    Access to Housing: We should work hard to address the lack of adequate housing in our country. We need to build more homes and find ways to help first time buyers. We need to push back against the sad proclivity towards NIMBY, or not in my back yard. A benefit of programs that create more housing is that they would also create more jobs in construction and other trades. Growing up and living in a decent neighborhood should be the expectation of all, not the experience of a privileged few.

5.     Access to the Arts: I grew up in a situation which afforded me access to the arts. Naturally, my parents exerted profound influence on that consumption, often requiring my participation. But that access opened my mind to new possibilities and broadened my horizons past the West Texas that surrounded me. Of course, they ensured that I imbibed in the rich culture and arts of West Texas as well. When we invest in arts, ensuring public access to beauty, we enrich all our population and elevate our society. Of course, this comes with a certain tension; after all, what I consider art may not pass your scrutiny, and that is okay. Through the corporate support of the creation of beauty we elevate our culture and citizenry.

Those of us who consider Family Values and the Right to Life as critical might consider taking up these challenges. We want to create a culture that not only embraces the sanctity of life but also promotes a high quality of life for all its citizens. Some might argue that these things are too expensive; however, I would point out that a stratified culture with an underclass that exists in perpetual poverty and squalor comes with its own expenses. A society should protect the most vulnerable of its members and enable them to grow and thrive throughout their lives. Those of us who value life and the family ought to agitate for the policies mentioned above as they directly impact the quality of life of the individuals and families that make up our society. When all of us prosper and reach our full potential as citizens our entire nation will prosper.