Richard Weaver

The words of Richard Weaver, in his book, Ideas Have Consequences, are as important today as they were when he penned them in 1948. Weaver writes,

"It is the appalling problem, when one comes to actual cases, of getting men to distinguish between better and worse. Are people today provided with a sufficiently rationale scale of values to attach these predicates with intelligence? There is ground for declaring that modern man has become a moral idiot."

Weaver writes that when no one desires to examine their own lives or accept rebuke for their own actions what is lost is any idea of a superiority of an ideal. I would say that his prediction is amazingly accurate. In today's world, everyone "should" own a home, have a good job, go to college and the list goes on and on. Just thirty years ago, these things were "wants," reserved for the best and the brightest who worked hard and stayed clear of trouble. Today, they are re-classified as needs, given to everyone regardless of their circumstances. How will we ever distinguish better from worse when we can not distinguish needs from wants? It is the first question of many more to come.