Newt Gingrich's Confession | A Rewrite by Lawrence O'Donnell

This, I think, is the kind of thing the young man in the post called Unlinked is reacting to...

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C.S. Lewis | ...the same old game under the new system

What is the good of drawing up, on paper, rules for social behaviour, if we know that, in fact, our greed, cowardice, ill temper, and self-conceit are going to prevent us from keeping them? I do not mean for a moment that we ought not to think, and think hard, about improvements in our social and economic system. What I do mean is that all that thinking will be mere moonshine unless we realise that nothing but the courage and unselfishness of individuals is ever going to make any system work properly. It is easy enough to remove the particular kinds of graft or bullying that go on under the present system: but as long as men are twisters or bullies they will find some new way of carrying on the old game under the new system. You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, HarperSanFrancisco, 2001 edition, p. 73

This is not the least of our problems just now ... substituting — perhaps mistaking — agreement or compliance for goodness; and excusing bad behavior ... illegal, immoral, cruel, dehumanizing behavior ... because the perpetrators are on the side we call good. As the saying goes: God is not mocked; we reap what we sow.

So … sow fair and equitable dealing, maybe?

To that, add this: Of citizens surveyed by Pew in 25 nations, more people in the U.S. — more than half — see their fellow citizens as morally bad. 

It's one thing to look at our neighbors and see badness; it's another, far worse thing to believe they are irredeemably bad.

Getting over *that* is gonna take some work.

source

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2026/03/05/in-25-country-survey-americans-especially-likely-to-view-fellow-citizens-as-morally-bad/

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

What happened at Tiger Woods’ residence will, it seems, stay at Tiger Woods’s residence. Which may be precisely the right outcome in light of the Florida Highway Patrol statement about Mr. Woods’ recent one-car crash. He was cited for careless driving, the investigation is concluded and that, it appears, is that so…move along, nothing to see here.

This news will prompt some people to say, “Wait, what? Tiger Woods had a car accident? Is he ok?”

Others will continue to live their lives as if they had no idea who Tiger Woods is (which they don’t) and could hardly care less (which they can’t).

And some will be frustrated if not infuriated by the news because they live for public drama and can’t imagine anything more satisfying than seeing a sports icon toppled by scandal.

Continue reading at InsideWork

A Wrench in the Works | The Ethics of U.S. High School Kids

There's work to be done in our households...