"If history naturally pushes people toward moral improvement, toward moral truth, and their God, as they conceive their God, grows accordingly, becoming morally richer, then maybe this growth is evidence of some higher purpose, and maybe — conceivably — the source of that purpose is worthy of the name divinity".
Besides, do you know who else were a bunch of morally indefensible rich kids who just wanted to have a good time for as long as possible and used hairbrained schemes to recast their stilted environment to suit their imaginings, and were hated for it from all sides?
A sober, indeed stoical, novel, incorporating class conflict and observing the personal and emotional reticence of the 19th century, set in Johnstown, Pa., in the year a flood morally attributable to rich people upstream killed more than 2,000 of the less rich.
Trump is the personification of capitalism – apolitical, unfettered, morally blind and rich – in a nation that worships capitalism, and has led the polls for five months.
However curious I might find it, I do not object to the association some wish to draw in their private lives between this symbol of Southern defiance and the rich, morally ambiguous heritage of the American South.
Liberals agree that it feels wrong "when an employee who needs their job is fired"; "that it's morally wrong that rich children inherit a lot of money while poor children inherit nothing"; and they describe themselves as often having "tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me".
"The Gaslight Dogs" belongs firmly in the category of "genre fiction" — it's the first of a projected trilogy, released in mass-market paperback by a major science fiction publisher — but general readers as well will be rewarded by this rich, morally ambiguous novel.
Is it morally legitimate for rich countries to restrict immigration to preserve their standard of living?
Ultimately, we are supposed to feel morally compromised watching rich people inflict these horrors upon enslaved androids day in and day out that is, if we (not unlike William) consider ourselves decent human beings.
Between that stance and the opposing view that only ignorance and prejudice could spawn doubts about a foreordained movement toward legalizing gay marriage, what chance is there for Mr. Blankenhorn's "hope for a morally and intellectually richer discussion"?
