John Adam's Part 2: Why is he not more revered or reviled?
OK, so continuing on with my blogging of what I learned during my July study session, I want to talk a little more about John Adams. Not the series per se, although it was so well done we could use part of it to have this discussion, but in who he was. The context of this conversation will apply to modern day ideals and not necessarily on how he was seen during his present.
Here you can see the idea behind our form of government, which was not agreed upon by every founder. The initial camps were similar to what we have today: People are good and can lead themselves vs. People require a governing body to maintain the morality, dignity, and safety of the body as a whole. It is the age old individualist vs collectivist argument, which to this day battles on in the halls of our government. It sometimes seems collectivism has taken root and will never topple, but the foundation of individualism remains set in each collectivist. They themselves understand this, but they think pretending it does not exist is the only way to ensure the propagation of our species. I think both of these ideas, in the most absolute interpretations, are wrong.
You should recognize the sovereign rites of the individual, and the individual should recognize the need to voluntary association in groups to achieve certain ends. The amount of participation is a conversation between you and your mirror.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other". John Adams
So obviously you expect me to destroy this comment being an Atheist, but I concur mostly. My nuance is that I think we have progressed just enough to not rely on religion as the cornerstone of morality. Ayn Rand lays out why reason is a superior morality than religion, but religion is a tool for those who would still tie themselves to it.
"I have said that faith and force are corollaries, and that mysticism will always lead to the rule of brutality. The cause of it is contained in the very nature of mysticism. Reason is the only objective means of communication and of understanding among men; when men deal with one another by means of reason, reality is their objective standard and frame of reference. But when men claim to possess supernatural means of knowledge, no persuasion, communication or understanding are possible." Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World by Ayn Rand
Where I think we are failing is morality has become almost too subjective. An obvious side effect of not using an authoritarian religious model. Yet as we learn, grow, and experiment we have increasingly learned how things work. We know of evolution and DNA. Many of the old time explanations of the world have proven to be false over and over. So why then are we willing to accept the imperfection of religious morality but overlook the objective, realistic, and problematic historical record of atrocities done in the name of religions? I think it is easily explained as cognitive dissonance. It's as simple as that I believe.
The writings of John Adams were plentiful which is why we know so much about him. Yet he is talked of so little. I think this is because much of the mystery of who is was is missing. We know as much as I think we can expect to know. There is also a lack of national identity resulting in a lack of desire to learn about our founders. We call them the founding fathers but we think of them as great great great grandfathers who's cursory existence is all we need to know. We will answer the question, why was John Adams so milquetoast.
More to follow in part 2. I really want to deep dive and try to understand how we can learn and improve still. I think the thinkers of the revolution hold the key to unlock the door to allow us to walk through and come out in a new, better, wealthier situation than the one we find ourselves in now. Next dive I hope to look into the choices he made as president to back the Hamiltonian form of government and help people understand the implications of a debt based society.
"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." John Adams