During the 20th Century, most people had never heard of a moral compass. A compass was a piece of metal with an arrow showing you which direction you were headed. Still a pretty handy item if you’re navigating in unknown territory. And then, a couple of decades ago, we started hearing the term “moral compass.” It first came into popular use in the year 2011. The Chief of Staff of the British Army observed that many UK citizens no longer had a sense of moral compass, while in the past, it would have been instilled in them by their parents. He said it would be up to the military to teach recruits the difference between right and wrong. When I hear that the majority of Americans are perfectly willing to vote for either Trump or Biden, you have to wonder. Have Americans lost their moral compass?
What is a moral compass? The dictionary defines it as : a set of beliefs or values that help guide ethical decisions, judgments, and behavior : an internal sense of right and wrong.
This doesn’t seem too complicated. Even little kids have a moral compass. They know not to hit or spit on one another if they’re mad. Teenagers with a moral compass don’t sell drugs or beat up on a guy they disagree with. It goes on through life. Even at my age, I know that if someone steals a package from my porch, that person lacks a moral compass.
We used to expect elected officials to show that they had a moral compass. Voters may not have liked Eisenhower, Truman, Ford or Carter, but they respected their integrity.
All that’s changed now. Few seem to care if the person they vote for has committed a crime or sexually harassed a member of the opposite sex. Lying and cheating seem to get a rubber stamp. If we look at recent polls, it would appear that voters in both parties are only interested in whether or not the person they elect can fulfill their personal wants and needs. No one seems to care about the common good, or uniting the country.
According to recent polls in Iowa, a majority of Republicans strongly support a presidential candidate who has been criminally indicted four times and been involved in numerous sexual harassment suits. The Democrats don’t care in the least that their man’s son had 40 different banks accounts in order to launder illegal payments to the current president’s family from foreign governments.
Both Biden and Trump have clearly demonstrated a lack of moral compass. If either one of these men are returned to the white house in the 2024 election, what does it mean? Have most Americans lost their moral compass? Or do they even know what one is?