American values

TheRedPillKing · 2019-04-27T08:25:21+00:00

Freedom of thought and expression is not bad but extreme liberalism will definitely cause decline.

Transport127 · 2019-04-27T08:58:14+00:00

You think America has freedom? The problem is most Americans don’t know about true freedom. If fact, America is worse in freedom. Freedom exists in America as long as you say the right thing, not what you feel. That’s why Americas are so fake.

Store_Front_Door · 2019-04-27T08:36:45+00:00

Read /u/GayLubeOil posts or just shoot him a message, he'll give you a detailed answer on this topic.

TheStumblingWolf · 2019-04-27T10:23:45+00:00

Western governments just made their population think they had freedom. The best way to control someone is by making them think they're acting out of free will. Check out one of those magicians on youtube and see how easy it is to manipulate the way we think just with a couple of well placed words. I still think western society is/was superior, but no one is truly free. I say this as a westerner.

Aptote · 2019-04-27T22:06:46+00:00

"freedom" in america is only ever "franchise"

liberty is what you mean by freedom, maybe

"western civilization" is bad for mankind, because it is of men and comes not from God or nature, it is artificial.

embracingtheredpill · 2019-04-28T06:53:33+00:00

Who cares?

Granite_Pill · 2019-04-28T09:27:25+00:00

No. Democracy is why we have declined. Most people are too lazy and stupid to understand the history, philosophy, economics, and ethics of what we had. This is why the Founding Fathers originally only wanted only property owners to be able to vote because they knew non-property owners would immediately vote to take away the property of property owners. Most people, even if they don't realize it, would rather give up their free will and autonomy in order to watch TV and eat junk food than read a history book.

The American values you speak of are natural rights: life, liberty, and property. They are negative rights, meaning you are engaged in them, you exercise them, without anyone having to do anything. You are free to do what you what you want as long as you do not infringe on the natural rights of others. That doesn't mean you can just do anything you want and not suffer any consequences for it, nor does it mean other people have to put up with your degeneracy if you become a nuisance.

The degeneracy is a result of concentrating unlimited power in the hands of the state, which is a monopoly on violence with the express purpose of subjugating the population to the will of the aristocracy. Because the state has so much power, people will do anything to get control over it and use it for their own benefit. Politicians will do anything to keep their jobs, so they sell themselves to special interests and initiate vote-buying schemes like welfare and other government benefits to bribe their constituency into voting for them. The government is there to violate your natural rights on behalf of whoever controls it, which in this country is the bankers, the industrialists, the corporations, and other special interest groups.

Furthermore, communists have infiltrated every level of government and society and subvert it for their own agenda. Look up "cultural marxism."

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. People don't care enough about liberty because modern technology, which is a direct product of Western culture's respect for property rights, has raised the standard of living so high, people are shielded from the immediate consequences of their actions. The government rewards degeneracy and punishes virtuousness, so people have lost the natural incentives that drove behavior for thousands of years.

Western Civilization is an individualist culture. Individualism doesn't mean you can do anything you want as long as you don't hurt other people. This interpretation is wrong and is the result of cultural marxism infecting academia. Individualism means that each individual has moral agency, that they know the difference between right and wrong, they choose which direction they want to go and are judged by god for it. Each individual is responsible for their own choices. This is important because for an action to be virtuous, it must be performed voluntarily. Being forced to perform an act, or coerced, or pre-programmed, by definition does not make it a virtuous act. You have the free will to choose what to do and whether it's right or wrong, popular or unpopular, smart or stupid--will you get away with it or not--you bear the responsibility for that action and will stand in judgement from God for it.

Nietzsche predicted that once people stop believing in God, with no moral authority to guide them, people will create their own moral authority and constitute it in the state. The government will become god. I think that's what has happened too. People used to fear going to hell, punishment by an omniscient god you can't hide from. Now the government is god. Patriotism is a religion. If you don't want to be punished for degeneracy, change the laws to allow it, promote it, and reward it.

Individualism is why we were so successful. Individualists take actions for the sake of their own souls, for their own good in the eyes of God. And because they're autonomous and have free will, they are motivated to act in their own best interest because the better decisions they make the better they do. They have to perceive information and reason from it the best course of action. And since they're responsible for their autonomous actions, they are entitled to the results, good or bad. They have ownership of not only themselves, but the fruits of their labors. Recognizing this in themselves, likewise, they recognize it in others.

Is this selfish or greedy? No. A society, a nation, a collective, any organizational body is a group of individuals. It stands to reason what is good for the individual is automatically good for the group. What incentivizes individuals within a group to behave is mutual respect for natural rights. Individualism leads to another phenomenon of Western Civilization, meritocracy. The best and brightest people and ideas are rewarded and bad people and ideas are punished. Meritocracy produces natural hierarchies in almost all aspects of society. Far from being chaotic, individualist cultures are more orderly and efficient, more just, and more tolerant.

Collectivist cultures, on the other hand, don't place moral agency squarely on the individual. Collectivist cultures vary widely on the specifics, but virtue is not based on the salvation of the soul of a single individual, it's based on what benefits the group. What benefits the group is more important than the interests of a single individual. Things are often done for "the greater good" whatever that may be, or for the leader/ruling class, or for family/tribe survival. Collectivist cultures are not as successful because they don't have strong meritocracies. They are staunchly traditional and don't tolerate unorthodoxy as much which stifles innovation. People are motivated to act for the benefit of the collective, so people keep less of the fruits of their labors, or aren't entitled to them at all, so there is less incentive to produce and less respect for property rights which leads to more internal conflicts. Overall, less value and lack of moral agency on individuals results in less respect for natural rights if at all. There is less value placed on human life in collectivist cultures because the ends justifies the means. This is why historically, collectivist cultures are so brutal and rack up huge body counts. Collectivist cultures also have higher levels of corruption and nepotism because in the absence of meritocracy, one of the few ways you can improve your socio-economic status, other than crime, is to be lucky enough to have the connections to maneuver your way up the hierarchy so you can and use your position to enrich your friends and family.

Communism is collectivist ideology that has infested and subverted the West. A lot of the problems of we're having in the modern West are the result of collectivism taking hold rotting it from the inside out.

trpchecker · 2019-04-28T18:38:30+00:00

No. American values are the reason why we are the greatest country in the world. Stop with this conservative ideologies. Freedom to do whatever we please is the cornerstone of any countries success.

Title	American values
Author	RedUtopia
Upvotes	1
Comments	11
Date	April 27, 2019 8:01 AM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/bhwx3b/american_values/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/american-values.236347 https://theredarchive.com/post/236347

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