Our common morality
The March 6 an article in the Valley News quoted someone from the NH Libertarian party as saying that, “Under libertarian ethical theory it is perfectly permissible to kill…” someone who supports an income tax.
That’s a blatant example of a dangerous modern trend. Some folks now seem to think that ethics, morality and justice are nothing but matters of subjective opinion or ‘personal values.’ But tellingly, this belief in ethical relativism usually lasts only until its proponent suffers personally from a fundamental injustice.
There is no your ethics and my ethics. There is but one moral system, common to all. It underpins our entire justice system. And while it allows for a bit of disagreement around the edges, its bedrock mandates — rules such as ‘Do Not Kill’ — are not mere matters of opinion. Nobody who’s serious about justice argues against them, or against penalties for major violations — regardless of the violator’s personal beliefs!
Inflicting harm on others can be morally justified only in those rare cases when it’s unavoidable to prevent harms which are undeniably worse. The idea that political disagreement justifies murder — that it’s morally OK to inflict evil solely for the sake of promoting one’s preferred social utopia — is the quintessence of fanaticism. It violates the core principle that ‘The ends can’t justify the means.’ And it’s just plain wrong. I would’ve hoped this went without saying.