Nobility means dignity.
Because of the possible beneficial effects, any work done well can lead
to dignity. In our time, every citizen
can feel a sense of mission, purpose and importance. Every task can be considered an act of service to our nation when
that task is done well. In this way
every act can be an act of public service.
And in this way every kind of work can be noble. This is the message if you believe
individuals have an inherent purpose.
But this is not the message of Plutocracy. Plutocracy ignores purpose.
The Important Wealthy
As
Merriam-Webster defines it, Plutocracy, is "government by the wealthy." But mere government by the wealthy is not
really the problem. The following quote
defines the issue:
"There are 47 percent of
the people who will vote for the president no matter what".who believe the government
has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to
health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it".These are the people who pay
no income tax".And so my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take
personal responsibility and care for their lives."
The issue, simply stated, is essentially this: today in America, Plutocracy means government by the wealthy, for the wealthy.
The above quote reveals this because the speaker states that his "job is not to worry" about the 47%. As he sees the task of president, his job is to worry about the ones who carry the burden of paying for those "dependent" on the federal government.
Those dependents he does not have to worry about. Why? He does not have to worry about them because they are not important. From the standpoint of the speaker and those who were listening with approval, the dependents are not important because they are not makers of wealth. For the speaker and his listeners only the makers of wealth are significant. Those who do not make wealth are insignificant: only the wealthy have value, those without wealth are worthless. And that is the issue.
An Ethic of Love
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