Dear Friends,
It seems to me, one important measure of the civilization of a people, is the courtesy they show each other and to visitors. Courtesy, as a measure, is empirically testable. It is indicative of a whole host of other attributes, that allow a market system to function, as well as to have an ordered society… with a strong ladle of freedom. Societies that are not courteous, have more societal problems, have less liberty and more dysfunctional markets, than societies that are more courteous. This is a critical point, if you want the society you live in to be prosperous, because it can truly be said; courtesy begets prosperity.
We must qualify our statement with a definition of courtesy. While smiling at strangers, shaking hands and holding the door for the next person, are all measures and aspects of courtesy, the nut we are going for is… truthfulness, follow through and intolerance of evil. These are the core attributes of a truly courteous society and culture. The outer manifestations, like smiling and door holding are reflections of the inner state of being, that is courtesy.
If these outward manifestations of courtesy are motivated out of fear, then they are not reflections of inner feelings and motives, but of the external threat of violence. This is patently not a courteous society and will not reap the benefits of passing manifestations of courtesy. In this type of society people are forced to tolerate evil as a matter of daily life. This can never be a truly courteous society.
When the outward and inward attributes of courtesy are present in a society and practiced regularly… that people will be prosperous. We see this in history as well as around us. Since the rise of the market system and the modern age of economics, those societies that have been most courteous, have been the ones who benefited the most from capitalism. The material benefits penetrating to the very core of their societies, while the benefits elude those rude nations… who believe they deserve it more.
As with everything the leaders in society lead, and the masses follow… where we are led. The Elite then are responsible if society under their watch becomes more or less courteous. As the leaders in society become less and less courteous the people will follow and become less and less courteous. The outward manifestations will drop first, but the inward feelings and motives, will drop, eventually. This inevitably lowers the material standard of living of a people.
A lowering standard of living makes people more prone to fall into a trap. The trap, of thinking the government can redistribute wealth… without consequence. This is the snare many have been taken by… Wiemar Germany, Argentina, the USSR, Rome, and many others. As the material wealth of the people was drained away, the people became less and less courteous, and more and more demanding. This set up a feedback loop that led to the total collapse of their societies economies. Today, in Argentina, the pawn shops are still full of the former wealth of the former Argentinian middle class.
But, in a society that has the benefit of a liberal education including history and logic, and who have suffrage, should be able to understand this paradigm. A people schooled in a human hearted, religious doctrine, Christian, Jewish or Buddhist for example, will be able to maintain their courteous ways, in the face of a rude Elite. If the religion can be sufficiently undermined, however, any people can be led to their own destruction. The key, is for society to cling to our religion and our guns, and weather the temporary rule of a rude and self destructive Elite, and get past, without us becoming like them.
Else we join that illustrious group of examples of what not to do…
Sincerely,
John Pepin
