I know you have heard about Greece's money problems, but while I was trying to figure out what a "pair of docs" was, I stumbled across this:

When duty and virtue have become antiquated terms that one only finds in books no one reads, we have a declining society entangled in the most petty and ephemeral affairs. Unburdened by the past, unimpeded from posterity, there stands the modern Greek: a person free of any civic and moral duties. The coming of the welfare state brought the monetarization of civic responsibilities and gradually degraded them to special interest sloganeering.

Unlike any other foe the Greeks faced in the past, the one that they face now has no armies laying siege to any walls. There are no occupiers trying to impose their customs and language, no military junta to imprison, torture or banish anyone. It is a foe that does not challenge their strengths but rather assuages their weaknesses. Instead of attacking the culture, it merely trivializes it by draining it of any transcendent qualities. There is no need to assail honesty, merit and hard work; they have simply been rendered irrelevant.

Note: I'm not picking on the Greeks. You can replace the word, "Greek" with the name of another country, and the quote probably still makes sense.

What are your thoughts?

asked 16 Jun '10, 14:51

Vesuvius's gravatar image

Vesuvius
32.7k851201

edited 16 Jun '10, 15:12


I think that larger problem is called the human ego and it is pretty much prevalent in all countries and all societies.However I do think that there is hope that as a species we will transcend this condition and wake up to realize our true identity and full potential and use our ego as a productive tool and not a destructive one.

It seems like a long, slow process from the human perspective of time but where the bigger picture is concerned, I thnik it's playing out as it's supposed to and a real shift in consciousness is happening.The more we wake up to the fact that the real foe or enemy is our egoic perception, the more aligned we become with that higher power that operates from a place of Divine virtue. We no longer become caught up in that entanglement of "petty and ephemeral affairs, but direct that energy toward the sustainable good of all.

Morals and duties are no longer an issue because the way of life we adapt is unquestionably one of the highest respect, compassion and integrity for all sentient beings.

Great question Vesuvius,

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answered 16 Jun '10, 19:17

Michaela's gravatar image

Michaela
35.0k22277

Always positive. See you in the New Earth, sure :-)

(17 Jun '10, 02:09) Eddie

I think the problem or part of it lies with leveling out. A Greek or any EU member land person working in a shoe factory (as an example) makes as much as one day as a person in a low priced land does in a week (about).And when shopping/spending money people look for shoe deals those deals are from low priced lands.so the money leaves Greece and the person in the low price land makes more than his father did. and the Greeks start to make less. As far duty is concerned I agree that people then to say what the government will take care or should take care forgets that they are the government.At least in the democratic sense of the world .And then the politicians forget That they are the people. and work more for their parties good......good question peace

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answered 17 Jun '10, 21:59

ursixx's gravatar image

ursixx
22.0k1445

My first thought was that this was also in part how the empire of Rome fell. But secondly, I found many of the statements to be so true! Duty and virtue are indeed antiquated terms in modern society, and worse yet, old ideas. We have no more civic duties anymore, instead we look to the government to solve every problem for us, removing some of the struggles that made us band together, made us develop character and strength. We have indeed rendered ourselves irrelevant. Instead we think constant ease serves us, when it truthfully doesn't. There are few enemies at the gate today; mostly the enemy is us. This was really something to think about! Honesty these days is also irrelevant. Even the most popular politicians have been caught lying and cheating, and in many cases, this didn't hurt their careers in the least. A recent President comes to mind. It doesn't bother people anymore!

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answered 16 Jun '10, 15:01

LeeAnn%201's gravatar image

LeeAnn 1
17.0k1519

edited 16 Jun '10, 16:34

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