@Fido,
Fido wrote:
Telamon wrote:
This is really the age old question, "does the end justify the means?". A very controversial topic for a lot of people. Anyways, to answer the question it must first be tapered down to a more precise target. Are we talking permanently disabled or temporary? how temporary? how are they disabled (mentally/physically)? can the still contribute to society? what’s the minimum contribution? To many variables for such a broad question. But then again, that isn’t the question your really asking.
I think the larger question is who shall serve, and who shall be served... It is in the definition of worth, and worthy that all manor of sacrifice for society, and here read the valueable ones of society, - is justified... Look at the Catholic Faith... All that business of service, and the first being last ended up with priests living the good life, and bishops leading the best life, and the church owning a fifth to a third of all Europe... I love philosophy, but philosophy flowered in slave societies... We use sacrifice as a terminal condition, but the fact is that it is chronic...
Fido,
I think you might be breaching into more of a control forum. Granted, the question of “who shall serve and shall be served?’ ,I think, must be answered before “does the end justify the means”, at least for such a large scale question as the one originally posted. But really, we have an established order in for example white collar America. The Problem is, as things stand now, the US will never make that decision due to the uproar it would cause nationwide with riots, protest, false claims, etc etc…. Goes to the saying “a person is intelligent, people are idiots.” I could go into the long and drawn out discussion of what will happen and what not, but there really isn’t a point to it. Government is too loose right now, there is too much control given to the mass populace. Not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it is without appropriate morals and education established nationwide, which miserably, we are not even close too. And I know, I know, Mark Noble is going to ask “who says, why, how, whatever…, that we aren’t even close to “standards’”. That would fall under Fido’s question of service. But then that brings on the point, elected officials are chosen to
serve in office, to
serve the people.
Anyways, I’m getting off track and onto a rant down way to many roads at once. Going back to Fido’s question of “service”, the Catholic Faith might not be liked by some (or a lot), but like many others it did bring stability. It brought unification and control, it brought nations together under one banner. And once united as such, then the hard questions can be answered. And with the control and stability, public back-lash will be at a minimum. People don’t like control for some reason or another, they want their privacy and as the late George Carlin said “their privileges”(not Rights). The “greater good”, however people don’t like it, might be one of our last choices to be made before there isn’t a chance to make anymore.
