Actually, many of the 'founding fathers' were quite well off, far more wealthy than most people in America. They did think of virtue in relation to their wealth. They felt that the wealthy, independent, few should run the government because they wouldn't be tempted to serve their own interests first. Not so today. wc
----- Original Message ---- From: joseph berg <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sat, August 25, 2012 2:12:42 AM Subject: Re: Subjective - Objective On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 9:04 AM, William Conger <[email protected]>wrote: > ...The Founding Fathers valued > Virtue as the highest good. For them it meant self-deprecation and > service for > the greater good: putting the other fellow's need above self-interest. > Some > actually tried to follow that principle and they certainly framed a > Constitution > that aimed at embodying it. > Concerning virtue, the economic gap between the Founding Fathers and the poorest person in their society was probably miniscule compared to the economic gulf of gulfs that exist now between today's billionaires and just the average American citizen. Considering that the stakes today are so much higher than they were in the past, wouldn't today's billionaires probably agree with the following?: - Virtue can be afforded only by the poor, who have nothing to lose. Alexander Chase
