The Need for Moral Universals in Democracy

Working societies?—?if they are to endure, grow, and cohere, if they are to prosper, hang together, and really mature?—?need moral universals. Moral universals are simply things that people believe everyone should have. In the UK, those things?—?those moral universals?—?are healthcare and media and welfare. In Germany, they are healthcare and media and welfare and higher education. And so on. Moral universals anchor a society in a genuinely shared prosperity. Not just because they “spread th...

 "Idiocracy" is a Problematic Anti-Poor Film

Unlike other films that satirize the media and the soul-crushing consequences of sensationalized entertainment (my personal favorite being 1951's Ace in the Hole), Idiocracy lays the blame at the feet of an undeserved target (the poor) while implicitly advocating a terrible solution (eugenics). The movie’s underlying premise is a fundamentally dangerous and backwards way to understand the world. The origin story for Idiocracy’s future world of half-wits is that uneducated people in the early...