Private Morality vs. Public Virtue

I'm not a very fast reader, as I never really give myself time to just sit and read. Too much guilt for doing that. But I am always reading something.

Currently I am finishing up Seven Miracles that Saved America. This morning I caught a paragraph that really struck me. I wanted to share it.

"In 1978, Clare Boothe Luce, one of America's most perceptive thinkers, writers, and leaders of the twentieth century, made this observation:

"'The question is a crucial one for the future of our country. All history bears witness to the fact that there cannot be public virtue without private morality. There cannot be good government except in a good society. And there cannot be a good society unless the majority of individuals in it are at least trying to be good people. This is especially true in a democracy, where leaders and representatives are chosen for the people, by the people. The character of a democratic government will never be better than the character of the people that it governs. A nation that is traveling the low road is a nation that is self-destructing. It is doom, sooner or later, to collapse from within, or to be destroyed from without. And not all its wealth, science and technology will be able to save it.'"

I think this is what my worries for our country boil down to: Are there enough people privately exhibiting morality--honesty, integrity, courage--to support a public virtue?

If not, then I agree with Ms. Luce's assessment. Lately it seems like a lot of attention on outlandish behavior from our national and local political leaders. Yet, in the system we have currently, how many "good people" want to throw their own hats in the ring when they will be crucified in the press, ruthlessly interrogated by the media, and hounded when their verbalized intentions didn't quite come out like they meant to say them? I certainly understand the deterring elements.

Statesmen are no longer running for office. Politicians are. And politicians seem to be more interested in their side "winning" than in doing the people's business. It is depressing.

This book have given me many points to ponder. The seven miracles related in it are just some evidences to me that our country was destined to be great. And I know it was the ready hand of Providence that guided America to what we know today. But so much of the goodness of America demands the greatness of her people. And I am not always sure that we are making the cut.