Aristotle denied that courage, as virtue, was innate. He thought that, like other virtues, courage could be acquired, as a behavior. In his Nicomachean Ethics, he argued that "one must not only know what he ought to do but he must also act accordingly."More than two and a half millenia later, Immanual Kant differed with Aristotle's notion about the locus of virtue and he proposed his famous categorical imperative: to act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Kant then defined duty as the necessity to act out of reverence for the moral law set by the categorical imperative. From those postulates, Kant observed that virtue was "the moral strength of a human being's will in fulfilling his duty." And that one should always, act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.
Despite the differences between these two wise men as to the origin of virtue, there is little doubt that both agreed that courage, particularly moral courage, is among the highest of the virtues. Throughout his writings, Cicero, too, averred that one quality that characterized great leaders was their determination to do that which is right in the face of adversity. In the present, troubled political and economic environment, President Obama and the Democrats need to show that same kind moral courage and to take control of the political narrative on the issues of tax-cuts for the wealthy and on the arms control treaty with Russia ( new START ).
First, with respect to the republican proposal to extend tax cuts for the wealthy, it is important to remember that, in 1952, at the beginning of the Eisenhower administration, the effective tax rate for corporations was 95%. According to an article in yesterday's Boston Globe, General Electric, while demanding tax cuts form the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, paid $0 dollars in corporate income tax in 2009, citing losses to its domestic operations, and despite posting as profit of $11 billion dollars, from revenues of $157 billion dollars, which included billions of dollars received from the Department of Defense.
The Bush tax cuts - which the mathematically-challenged Republicans now insist upon keeping - produced a net loss of 1 million jobs in the period from 2002 to 2008. Their continuation, according to the Congressional Budget office, will cost the U.S. treasury a loss of one trillion dollars over the next decade..
Trickle-down economics and tax cuts for the wealthy will lead only to more out-sourcing of jobs, and more hunkering-down by the already wealthy. The refusal of our elected officials in Washington to support a second significant stimulus package as a way to spur growth through fiscal policy and to extend unemployed benefits for the long-term unemployed is little short of cowardly. The Republican's desire to "starve the beast" has led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs at the state and local levels. These lay-offs and the inability of state governments to fund infra-structure has exacerbated the current recession. The actions of Governor Christie of New Jersey - which have been widely applauded by Beltway pundits and other right-wing Republicans - will further reduce New Jersey - and similarly-situated states - to a status as third world banana republics, not unlike Mississippi and Alabama.
There is something exceedingly obscene about the idea of continuing tax-breaks for millionaires, while the middle class continues to be hollowed out, and while jobs continue to be sent overseas, all in the name of efficiency, lower costs and maximizing short-term profits. All of the dividends of these ill-conceived policies - including our increasingly regressive tax-system - will not inspire growth but, rather, cause further stagnation and poverty.
Secondly, the opposition of Republican Senators to immediate ratification of the new START treaty with Russian is incomprehensible. The previous START treaty was allowed to lapse during the last Bush administration. As late as November of 2009, Senator Kyle publicly stated that the failure to complete negotiations and to ratify a new START treaty jeopardized American security. Every living Secretary of State and defense, irrespective of party, has urged that the Senate ratify this treaty. One can only assume that the desire of the Republican leadership to weaken President Obama has taken precedence over common sense and the public interest.
Why have we allowed the machinery of our government and the public discourse to be dominated by right-wing zealots who have little knowledge of history, science, economics, or the world outside the borders of our own, increasingly distressed country?
Our highest court has permitted the promise of America to be plundered by corporations and super-wealthy while we have watched with open eyes. America is no longer the "shining city on the Hill," rather, we may be well on the way to becoming a Clockwork Orange culture in which Thomas Hobbes' dystopia becomes our daily nightmare. One recalls the words of W.B. Yeats:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity....
Now, indeed, is the time of all good men- and women- to come to the aide of their country. As citizens, we need to insist that our President and the Democratic members of Congress show moral courage, irrespective of the political consequences they might fear to suffer.