The Path to Harmony Isn't Wealth

Today’s Western Society rewards financial success. That isn’t wrong in any way, but it is rather limited and it carries with it an inherent danger that is already manifest in our midst. When one rewards financial success only, the danger is that everyone will do whatever it takes to achieve that single rewarding experience. If in pursuing this course of action one commits acts of malice, cruelty or even lunacy but is STILL rewarded with basis on one’s measurable financial success, everyone else around that individual will feel compelled to do likewise.

It goes without saying that what follows is chaos and disaster. Nevertheless, this is EXACTLY the pickle in which we find ourselves today. One need do little more than look around and into the contemporary icons of our Society’s regard for success to realise this very simple fact. What are the symbols our Society identifies with success? Who are today’s heroes? If you look honestly into these, you will be as baffled as I to discover we have been rewarding greed, corruption and unscrupulousness for quite some time now.

I sometimes refer to the past for a comparative reference, and I like using what is regarded presently as "controversial periods" to achieve maximum effect. One such period is the Dark Ages.

What is funny to me is that many of my interlocutors who are self proclaimed “free thinkers” frown on the values proposed by European medieval societies; saying that they were retrograde and enslaving of the human mind and the human heart. My interlocutors hold that the Middle Ages offered nothing but ignorance and bigotry. I beg to differ.

There was a time when adhering to the chivalric code of honour was the aim of every reputable public figure, and by proxy, of everyone else. This was a code of conduct based on Aristotle's concept of Virtue Ethics and on pre-Islam Middle Eastern Society. It was proposed by the Catholic clergy as a means of enabling a sustainable basis for society to grow. In all fairness, I warrant that the code was seldom fully followed and never at all times, but it was an icon of civility and purity that was cherished universally.

Part of this code were the knightly virtues, which were a set of standards that served as guidelines for the warrior class, the Knights and Dukes of the High Middle Ages, in their daily living and interactions with others. Though there was no definitive list of virtues, the most common were embraced by pan-European organisations. These were the cardinal virtues – Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude – and the beatitudes – Humility, Compassion, Courtesy, Devotion, Mercy, Purity, Peace and Endurance. Other proposed virtues widely embraced by knightly orders included: Courage, Sagacity, Charity, Generosity, Faith, Valour, Hope, Diligence, Chastity, Truth and Integrity.

Albeit one can’t claim that all knights followed this code, the fact that the code existed and that it had been proposed as something to be prized and pursued by all men and women of good will was, in my understanding, a much more advanced social code than what we’ve been procuring today. Disagree? Then follow my reasoning through:

If, however imperfectly, we seek to follow, as a Society, the path of Integrity, Prudence, Temperance, Justice, Compassion, Courtesy, Purity, Peace, etc, what must follow is an understanding between and amongst the peoples of the Earth. This is coherent because, in seeking to be prudent and just and courteous etc, it follows that we achieve at the very least the semblance of it. By doing so, the recipient of this effort will be positively impressed and pressed toward reciprocity. If this, at any point, becomes the general rule, we will have a world of charitable, prudent, honest people. To me, this is a goal heartily to be cherished.

In contrast, if we should follow the path of Ambition, Greed, Competition, Consumerism, Self Determination, Egotism, Hedonism, Relativism and Success without Remorse, it will follow – as it has been following – that Machiavellianism will prevail over even the most basic concepts of contemporary Ethics such as Deontology (ethics of fulfilling duty) and Consequentialism (ethics of attracting good consequences). If wealth is ALWAYS rewarded, then the ends justify the means so long as you become rich. This is evident in the lives of public figures, who are often involved in abhorrent scandals of pornography, disloyalty, corruption and even crime; yet they endure in the limelight and continue to gather fans and followers.

It's all a question of what your aims are. That's the point! We often fall short of our aims, but if the aim itself falls short, what hope do we have then? We should aspire to better things. We should strive to be better as a people. Instead we are divided by greed and individualism.

If we persist in rewarding only Financial Success and the display of its trappings as the maxim for our contemporary Society, and if we continue to do so in detriment of Virtue Ethics, then we must realise that Deontology and Consequentialism will not be enough to hold the social fabric together. In reality, if wealth is all that is rewarded, we become enslaved by it.

We must stop rewarding material wealth and we must resume the reward of the man/woman behind it and his/her conduct before his/her peers. We must stop to revolve around THINGS and we must start looking at PEOPLE. Only then will we be able to live in a harmonious and sustainable society. Only then will we be really free.