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      Doing The Right Thing!

That sounds good, but what does it mean? Who defines what the right thing to do is? What is the ethical system, or is there one, that underlies that decision-making process? We are surrounded every day by this dilemma when we go about our daily lives in our personal lives, and in our public lives. The decisions we make daily are guided by whatever rules we have adopted. And they may differ markedly based on the upbringing we have had. As significant, the same holds true for the people we have delegated to make decisions for us at every level of government, city, province, (state,) and federal. No matter how we act at our personal level, decisions at all these other levels can make a mockery of the ethical systems to which we personally adhere. Lots of stuff is up for grabs.

I am having a good deal of heartburn looking out at my world today. I believe, and I believe many people agree with me, that we live in one of the best places in the world to work, to form families, and have children. I believe there is ample room in our societies to share our good fortune with others who are less fortunate. I believe that is one of the right things to do. Traditionally, the new people who join us, struggling to begin with, find their feet, and ultimately make an immeasurably positive contribution to our society……..

However, these days, we see in many places in the world, some countries in Europe, where those newcomers actively resist integration into the societies into which they have been welcomed. Indeed, things have reached such a state in some countries, that, given the vastly different concepts the newcomers hold as to what the right thing to do is, that the social order of the indigenous people is disrupted. Law an order in no longer universally enforced, social welfare systems breakdown, and no-go areas for the indigenous come into being. When I see this I begin to worry whether my support for doing the right thing in this respect is the right thing for our society.

Does that mean I am racist, or just using my head? A friend of mine sponsored an immigrant, setting him and his family up with government support, a place to live, and a job. The man opted to go on welfare. Different strokes for different folks. Different ethics than the kinds we were taught. Enough of that and our systems break down.

Looking at what is happening south of our Canadian border, our faith in our democratic system of government is being shaken. Analagous in some ways with the above developments, a political party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, is overtly seeking to undermine democracy by preventing the increasingly numerous people it believes will not support it from exercising their right to vote. I do not think that is the right thing to do. But many elected officials in that country are presuming the support of their constituents for these anti-democratic measures. And they are resisting the normal peaceful transfer of power to those who have been democratically elected. And it appears that these action have broad, if minority, support.

Why is this worrisome? It is worrisome because many in the world have looked to America to do the right thing on the world scene. How can we continue to do this when so much is happening in the country that we believe is not right. And in our world today we have bad actors like China, Russia, and Iran, who are countries that we do not believe are likely to “do the right thing”.

To make matters worse, I am not at all sure that the other party is not focused on putting in place measures that may endanger the golden goose that has made America the most powerful economic creation in the world, one on which so many countries’ economic well-being depends on. At the same time they are signaling a withdrawal from the leadership role in the world America has played for many decades.

So, what is the right thing to do? Have we parted company yet?

Speaking as a senior citizen, why should we have these problems when this should be our time for fun and games? Didn’t we hand the future tough stuff to the kids to handle? That was the right thing to do. So how come they are asking us what they should do?