MORAL PRINCIPLES VS. MATERIAL INTERESTS
Upon opening a collection of that old misanthropist Ambrose Bierce's fables, the very first one caught my eye:
A Moral Principle met a Material Interest on a bridge wide enough for but one.
"Down, you base thing!" thundered the Moral Principle, "and let me pass over you!"
The Material Interest merely looked in the other's eyes without saying anything.
"Ah," said the Moral Principle, hesitatingly, "let us draw lots to see which shall retire till the other has crossed."
The Material Interest maintained an unbroken silence and an unwavering stare.
"In order to avoid a conflict," the Moral Principle resumed, somewhat uneasily, "I shall myself lie down and let you walk over me."
Then the Material Interest found a tongue, and by a strange coincidence it was its own tongue. "I don't think you are very good walking," it said. "I am a little particular about what I have underfoot. Suppose you get off into the water."
It occurred that way.
Sound familiar? To me, it connects with what seems to have become the way so many things are going on in our fair American democracy.
But wouldn't it be great if this led people to think about their moral principles? How well are they understood? What reasons do we have for embracing them? Most especially, how can we satisfactorily resolve those conflicts without sacrificing our principles? When is compromise a good thing, and when isn't it so good?
Critical thinking like that actually strengthen your principles. But fair warning: it can also lead you to change them. Maybe even adopt new ones.
It seems in the first raw reading of Mr. Bierce's fable, that Material Interest won the encounter by just being cool; and that Moral Principal laid himself out to be trodden upon. In fact, he even talked himself into his own submission.So are we to rethink the fable... reverse the roles...make Moral Principal the cool,silent-but-persistent observer, who lets Material Observer basically play himself out, ultimately destroying himself with his own foibles??? Can we do this, honing our awareness to concepts of good timing..when to hold back..when to assert...when to compromise?
ReplyDeleteVery chameleon-like. Ma, is this a Robischon thang or a Ma thang? Just an observation because I follow the "concepts of good timing....when to hold back....when to assert...when to compromise". Did I learn this from you, my dear mother? Some of my Moral Principals are unwavering....but I have found them to slide in different environments.
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