Managing Ourselves

For centuries, this study has been valuable to societies. I spent about a year going through it to better understand the subject. Hopefully this is interesting to others in an understandable format. 

Introduction: Nicomachaen Ethics, Book I, Chapter 1-3

We as humans are creative and curious and therefore we make things and we study. Naturally we pursue what we think is best. There are good practices and there are also good products. Some actions give us experiences that are enjoyed right away. Other actions lead into something better.  For instance, medicine is studied to give health, engineering is studied to produce cars, buildings etc.  The effort we make is always to get something we consider better and good. We desire excellence in whatever activity we do; it doesn’t matter if it is a trivial action in pursuit of something bigger or something that is good in itself.

For everything there is always a goal. It has to be achievable.  We cannot go on chasing things forever or we would all live empty lives. This goal must top the list of everything good. By knowing what it is, we will live more fulfilled lives. It would be a subject worth studying and would be considered the best knowledge we could ever obtain. Political science; the study of human associations, is of this nature. How we govern ourselves as a nation and how we govern ourselves as individuals determines our outcome.

In examining this subject we want to be clear, but at the same time cannot answer every question raised. As in any subject, generalizations are needed for teaching purposes and we cannot address every angle. Political Science is a subject that can have so many situations and opinions that people might form the conclusion that there is no natural truth but it is determined by society. We see with goods that sometimes they ruin people, such as wealth. Even courage can be reckless and cause harm. So speaking in general about things that are for the most part true is the only way to address this subject. A well educated person will know when to digress into details and when generalizations are appropriate. It is as foolish to ask for generalizations from a mathematician as it would be to demand precise scientific reasoning from a politician.  

People are good judges of the things they have experience in. A person who has studied one subject will be an expert in it, but lack expertise in other areas. Someone who has a well-rounded education is a better judge when it comes to generalities. Youth have a much harder time grasping politics because they have so little all-around life experience to draw from. But a living a good life is what this study is about. They also tend to follow passions and have little understanding. Immature people are the same way; they jump on every bandwagon without giving much thought to what they are doing. To a thoughtful mature person, this kind of study is invaluable.

We should now be clear on the purpose of this study, how it will be approached and what kind of mindset is needed.

Some say that Greek philosophy founded western civilization. When we use the word civilized, we are talking about two things; Individuals reaching their highest potential and people getting along well with each other. This is what the study of Ethics is really about. Many get stuck on the point that happiness is stated as the goal from the beginning. But in reality, everyone is happy when he can excel. There are things that hold us back. If we examine how this works in ourselves and others, we can reach our fullest potential both in our various relationships with people and in our achievements. Aristotle starts out on an individual level, progresses through local associations and on to national goals.

We can all agree that a society accomplishes most when there is harmony and that having harmony within ourselves allows us to be our best. Harmony is a better word than happiness because wrongdoing can make a person happy for a while. We can treat ourselves badly through vice or treat others badly through injustice. Either action suppresses our God given talents and those in others. Virtue is simply the ability to use our lives and associated talents to the fullest extent possible.  This takes managing ourselves and our interactions with others.

The difference between Greek and Christian philosophy is while Greek mainly deals with how we act toward ourselves and others,  Christianity examines how we deal with offences given to us from others and the guilt we feel from how we have treated ourselves. One is active and the other reactive. Aristotle would teach us to understand why people do what they do and to avoid destructive behavior in the name of happiness and harmony. Jesus asked us to forgive offenses from others in the same way God forgave the human race through him. In the same way, being right with God is to have harmony within ourselves. One avoids guilt by being just to others while the other deals with the guilt and bitterness from past offenses. Jesus would say “Love your neighbor as yourself,” while Aristotle would tell us that each person will have different things that make them happy, it is up to us to find them out and treat them and ourselves in a manner that is considered just to each party.

Greek philosophy has helped Civilizations for centuries. Ethics stops at the many unobservable religious opinions people have, on purpose, to make sure its teaching about the good can apply to everyone. That is why I enjoy it so much. It is nice to get away from religious opinions and doctrines that change like the wind and land on simple organized thought that applies to everything we do. I have in the past read the Bible through many times. This will be my second extensive study of Nicomachaen Ethics and I thought you might want to join in. I normally read a section through a couple times, think about it, and then write it in an understandable form. Since I have gone through it already and understand where he is going, the second time has been much better.  In addition I have read a couple of commentaries since then. I hope to keep it interesting and understandable to all that read it. More to come...

Less is More

We start out in hope wanting to build a life and the struggles give us fond memories. Over time we build our tastes according to the supply we have. Those who are enjoying prosperity should do so. But there is always a risk that we should keep in mind. There are those who have experienced working long hours all their lives with a time of success, seen the finish line only to have it all taken away. While in a good place we tend to be delusional and assume that the supply will always be there. Just picture a cut off supply due to a war or collapse of some kind. Even legislation can wipe out some people’s dreams. Dream cars are repossessed, the houses go in foreclosure and the savings get spent.

That is where I was five years ago. My workweek was on the road 80k miles a year with seventy to eighty hours a week. I had my dream truck, a newly built home and two lake houses in Michigan. The same people who welcomed me into their banks with VIP status for twenty years suddenly looked at me with contempt. We spent our savings and peaked out credit in hope that the environment would get better.While things were going well I pretended to know how failure would feel but in reality had no comprehension. I knew of people who killed themselves over major failures but never understood it. 

I had six crews that depended on my company for income. They understood but were just as fearful as I was. Sleepless nights were the norm with my mind calculating over and over. I went to numerous businesses that I had avoided earlier with my hat in my hand begging for a morsel of work, first for my crews and then for myself.  Here I was pushing fifty and looking to scale things back and there was nothing to fall back on. Starting over finally became the only option but that realization came after weeks of no sleep and endless calculation. But where do I go? What do I save? Is my body and mind up to a complete change? I think pride was the first thing that had to go. I was never extravagant but wanted the best of everything. Now there was no choice but live by cash or have wages garnisheed. It put a new meaning on cheapskate. I was now one out of necessity. The ideal of living with no debt was a joke.

The bankers became vultures, waiting for me to fall so they could get their morsels. My truck had to be hidden to keep it from repossession, it even though it was close to being paid off. Bankers walked into my home uninvited to look it over because they wanted to snatch it up for nothing as soon as it was foreclosed. I will never forget their smug looks and condescending attitudes as long as I live. Half of them were young people who had their expenses paid by their parents all their lives. Nowadays I am not ashamed anymore to drive an older car or to live in cheap housing. Everything I have will be well kept and satisfy me. When you experience how debt and easy income puts you under someone else’s thumb, freedom becomes more important than pride. I would rather walk in a public park a free man than have to work like a dog to travel the world. I would rather live in a house I own than have vultures circling over waiting to snatch it up at my first difficulty. I am not cheap and the time will come when I can afford more, but it won’t come through credit reports and some stranger’s smug approval.  I consider my life now far better than it was it back then. It takes less to have more. I think that is what Jesus meant when he said, “What good is it to gain the whole world yet lose your own soul.” 

Politics

It is important that everyone in a society have freedom to reach their potential. On this everyone agrees. That is why Aristotle considered Politics the most important subject to study. It includes behavior toward others both in small groups and societies. That is why I like to delve into the subject on occasion. I always hope to present things in a form that is easy to understand and lacking dogma.

When we mention the term “taxation without representation”, we think of the American Revolution and Great Britain. At that time there was a realization from both the native born Americans and those who immigrated that allowing a foreign entity the power to levy taxes was always a very bad idea. In the purist sense, only the people who are paying the taxes should have power to levy them.  This is where we get the House of Representatives. They were originally representatives of the people who owned land and businesses. This is where all taxation is supposed to originate. It is the same today except we allow non- taxpayers to vote for representatives also. To allow the senate or president the power to tax is a violation of our independence. They are supposed to approve the tax bills if they see no corruption in them. We have gone a long way from this for sure.

Another function of the House is to make laws. John Locke and others were emphatic that laws be made by the people themselves and that enforcement always be a separate entity. Tyrants were prone to make laws that kept them in power and to suppress those who considered them unjust. An extreme example would be the Holocaust. The people didn’t vote to destroy Jews, it was an executive order and then enforced by the executive branch. That is why all the fuss today about executive orders and such. The senate was formed to slow legislation down and was to have the brightest people a state could offer. They could draw from wisdom and experience and make sure that laws that were passed in the house weren’t just based in hysteria and emotion but would actually do the country good. They also made sure their respective state wasn’t being singled out and oppressed by the laws.  

What has complicated our system of governing is the notion of forced benevolence. Our founders experienced and studied the habits of kings and rulers. A method Despots used to enslave the masses (other than suppression) was benevolence. Many times in history a king would plunder an economy and destroy their crops. He would then offer to feed them if they become compliant and support him. Free people who became compliant and dependent were looked upon with disgust by our founders because many had experienced being plundered for a king’s pleasure. The king would then give the plunder to his cronies. We haven’t experienced a collapse of enough magnitude to have the same feelings and I hope we never do.