The Third Virtue of the Next Democracy is “Freedom of Speech and Expression“.  The first two virtues, 1. Speaking Truth and 2. Building a Shared Reality partially set the stage and context for Freedom of Speech, for speech, free or not, is nothing without context. Sorry but these virtues are not presented cafeteria style where you can choose one or three and leave the rest.  Each virtue interacts with and can modify the balance of the seven.  Freedom of expression exists in the same context as Speaking Truth and Building Toward a Shared Reality.  The obligation of the citizen is to seek the expression of the truth of themselves and the world they actually experience around them.  

The relatively new concept of “political spin”, is moving facts and fiction so fast they shred and shed their relationship to truthfulness. Often spinning is the spinners efforts to delude self and others which is, unfortunately, often too easy for the spinner. Lies are, as always, a straight forward conscious attempt to mislead.  Unfortunately spinning and lies have allowed this nation to self delude about its position as a democracy as well as world partner. The current loss of virtue, ethics and morality is now even more than a moral issue for the United States.  This self-deluding will cost us our economy.

The role of virtue in lives that are guided religiously or philosophically is to stabilize the personality or the nation to lay the groundwork for trust in the complex relationships of an interdependent world.  The current administration will need to learn the hard lessons of interdependence in the same way youth too often have to learn it which is through the college of hard knocks.  We voters will suffer the blows and pay the tuition for their education.

Good in the sphere of the political is free speech and expression subordinated to truth, and democracy’s morality  The current track of spinning, lies, coercion and violence can only end with a two sphere world; the entitled members of the oligarchy and a majority population held in perpetuity in custodial labor. Good is subscribing to the true cost of a democratic context, interdependence and independence.  A lot of our ancestors sacrificed mightily or died for the gift we are currently fumbling.