Musing On Our Changing Morality
Blogging friend Kay over at Musings a few weeks ago brought up a darker chapter of our history where society decided to imprison Japanese-Americans in internment camps and unbeknownst to me, some of them used that time to play baseball. Now all these years later, we celebrate three Japanese-Americans who helped the Dodgers win the World Series. I know I along with most, probably find putting any race of citizens in internment camps to be morally unacceptable under our current set of morality codes but I know most of my Iowa ancestors probably found it morally acceptable 83 years ago. Our past is littered with similar changes in morality.
Going back just to the beginnings of our nation, one can easily point out such practices as slavery, indentured servitude, child labor, public execution, public shaming and assertions of class superiority to all be examples of things we find morally repugnant today but weren't 250 years ago. Even in my lifetime, I have seen changes and shifts to morality. I have seen the use of racial slurs decrease dramatically, use of non-binary gender identity increase and the entire area of cultural appropriation has come to the forefront of our discussions. These are just the low hanging fruit when it comes to this subject. If you proceed further up the tree, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of other subjects where our morality codes have changed as a society.
As I stated in the comments of Kay's post, such talk always leads me to ponder what will people 83 years from now find that I'm doing to be morally repugnant under their future set or morality codes? I have some guesses but they are just that because I think it is likely impossible to pick these things with any accuracy because we are hampered by our current set or moralities.
My favorite one to pick is our current fascination with pets and I mean no offense to those that currently have them. But if one changes the lens of perspective ever so slightly, future people might see us as enslaving animals, keeping them locked up in our houses or on leashes outdoors where we parade them around and even deem certain ones superior by how they look or what characteristics they have on nationally televised shows.
Perhaps our ideas of raising children, entrusting their care to au pairs, day care centers and such will be someday morally repugnant to others or on the other end of the spectrum, putting our elders in nursing homes.
At the current moment, we see such hot button issues as abortion and the death penalty changing in various directions in our society. Where will they end up 83 years from now? I suspect your guess is as good as mine.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject? What things will our descendants 83 years from now find morally repugnant?
I enjoyed reading your insights and speculations. I do recall ethnic jokes being common. Canadians, for example, often told Newfie jokes. They were not meant to be mean, but they are out of favour. Gay jokes are another example although they might have often been meant to be mean.
ReplyDeleteI think jokes are an excellent example of our changing moralities. I too heard lots of jokes as a child that I would never repeat, or even hear told, these days.
DeleteI can see the nursing home for the elderly becoming a moral issue in the future. There already are some cultures that take care of the elderly to the end and probably look at the nursing home as a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteMost definitely. I know my wife's culture is one in which nursing homes are non-existent. The ones I have been in have been depressing places. But I see the value of them in our two working parent, small family world we currently live in. I definitely think with the progression of A.I., perhaps with more time to spend at home, society will progress towards taking care of our elders... again.
DeleteIn the old country of my parents' small hometowns, there was always a child, usually an unmarried daughter, who gave up her life to care for her elderly parents. My parents saw it and were very against it for their own families. As you know, I did a lot of care of my mom in her last years (and dad too to a lesser extent) but I wouldn't have been able to do that 24/7. I think jokes are the best example of change in attitudes.
ReplyDeleteMy wife’s country is the same where as one of the daughters sacrifices a life for taking care of parents. I see the advantages and drawbacks of it. I suspect which way we go often depends on our experiences of witnessing previous generations.
DeleteIn 83 years? We might be a world like that of the Terminator. Computers take over, humans are not necessary. I see the use and dependency of the internet as morally repugnant. But currently it is a necessity.
ReplyDeleteI guess if the world is like Terminator in 83 years, I will be happy that I’m already dead.
DeleteI think couples having children and then leaving them in the care of others while they go off to work is the root of many problems in our society. I find it repugnant now and I have no solution. I was lucky enough to spend many years at home with my daughters. I worked nights and my husband worked days and we made it work.
ReplyDeleteI have spent six years as a two parent working house and the rest as a one working parent house. I definitely know the benefits of the latter outweigh any extra income the former may have provided.
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