The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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Moral Scruples and Personal Commitments

The Democratic Party received over $40 million to fund FTX’s founder’s chosen candidates in the recent midterm elections. The money was laundered through Ukraine, a country not exactly known for its high standards. Left wing Democrats received the money either directly or through a shielded PAC, reports Theodore Malloch in American Greatness.

It certainly helped that the same Democrats greased the wheels for FTX to do business and thwart regulations. Hell, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who is supposed to have oversight, Gary Gensler, was also the finance chair for the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s finance chief (who funded the Russian collusion hoax).

Sweet.

… at the very root of our financial crisis is a moral vacuum, which can only be filled with true virtue. Capitalism, the goose that has laid our golden eggs over the past decades, if not centuries, brings about immense transformation, particularly in its more globalized form. It is in nature as Adam Smith reminded us in his first book, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” written long before his better-known work, “The Wealth of Nations.”

Moral tendentiousness and grandiosity have paved the way for “narratives” which “include sweeping, if vague, claims of moral certitude and superiority,” writes Daniel Henninger in the WSJ.

How to Control the Narrative

“Controlling the narrative” is an euphemism for propaganda, adds Mr. Henninger. If one phrase isn’t getting the job done, change the name:

• If “environmentalism” isn’t getting the job done, change it to “climate crisis.”
• “Racial inequality” gave way to “social justice.”
• Citing “science” during the Covid-19 pandemic became a moral cudgel.

The purpose of this moral grandiosity, according to Mr. Henninger, “isn’t to engage one’s opponents but to marginalize them.”

… place them beyond the pale of what the new gatekeepers of virtue define as acceptable discourse.

The pity in this is that there remains much good to be done, if the left’s insistence on politicizing virtue doesn’t discredit the idea.

Without a return to virtuous business, warns Mr. Malloc, want it or not, expect more Enrons, WorldComs, Madoffs, Theranoses, and FTXes.