To Do Your Duty
There comes a time in most of our lives when sufficient degrees of maturity, intelligence, and necessity combine to force upon us an often uncomfortable deliberation. The issue we face, the question to which each must find an answer, is how to evaluate and justify our individual existences.
This "critical moment" (as some would have it) usually comes toward the end of our natural lives, for nothing serves to focus the mind as does the realization of our own mortality. On the other hand, there does not appear to be any handicap which prevents those of us who are particularly self-aware, whatever our physical age, from undertaking such an examination. Indeed, there may even be particular times in our youth when certain events, such as the emotional transition to adulthood, compel us to try.
This investigation became all the more important as I slowly awoke to the realization that the message contained in our prevailing culture is anything but worthy and wholesome. The end of existence in this consumerist age seems to be gross self-gratification. So many of the demographic trends that trouble social scientists (to name but a few: illegitimacy, drug abuse and normalization, divorce, gambling, et cetera ad nauseum) can be traced back to this disturbing attitude. As the stratification by which our society was shaped has crumbled under the untiring onslaught of liberalism, we witness such ludicrous behavior as parents permitting their children to use alcohol or have sex so long as said activities are "safe." As responsibility and respect for authority are constantly undermined by such permissiveness, our society has also produced a convenient fiction to relieve the potentially guilt-stricken from any feeling of contrition. Instead of encouraging pride in accomplishment we enforce some ill-defined an unearned sense of "self-esteem".
All too often, any who would speak against such outrageous conditioning are dissuaded by their inherent respect for the independence of the individual and the "freedom of conscience." Sadly, this latter tenant of the loftier, more appropriate brand of liberalism has been perverted by its modern inheritors into something completely unexpected. Rather than inspiring a respect for different comprehensive moral doctrines, the supposition now remains that all lifestyles and morals (or lack thereof) are equally valid. After all, if no one doctrine is demonstrably and objectively true, then all are equally prone to criticism. Everything sinks into the morass of moral relativism.
I lack the skill and patience to provide a more perfect refutation of this dangerous trend, but hope that any who would be reading this have already awoken to the fact that a better, purer way must exist and need no further convincing. For them, I offer my own humble suggestion for a via vitae.
The goal of every man, woman, and child should be to recognize and perform their variable duties. The very first duties in life are obligations into which we are born and from which we have no real means of release. These are the most fundamental building blocks of our society, yet they are those from which people seem most eager to flee! Included among these would be a child's duty to his family (parents, siblings, and even more distant relatives) and is obviously incurred by the sacrifices others make to raise that child. Included also would be a duty to serve God, our ultimate creator, and our Country (a duty incurred by our position within society, which may be satisfied by direct service, dedication to tradition and history, observation of the laws and legal process, and in other ways). We should indoctrinate the young with this belief- that they should never disgrace themselves and those who preceded them. All of the chores of childhood (acquiring an education, minding ourselves, etc.) go some way toward repaying the investment of time and effort our families, churches, communities, and country place in our future.
Later in life, of course, we voluntarily assume certain duties. People who marry assume the duty to be a devoted spouse, as those who choose to procreate assume the duty to care for their children to the best of their ability. Those who contract for employment are obligated to serve their employer in good faith. Those who assume ownership over a portion of property incur the duty to be good stewards, for thus had the property been received and so should it be transferred. Many more examples could be provided, but at this point it should be perfectly clear how most of the disfunctional and disruptive attributes of society would be excised if only those individuals involved would function with a clear understanding of and commitment to their duty.
The strongest objection to this sort of doctrine may be made by those who rightly observe that I do not include any sort of "duty to do good." Good and evil are both words which have lost most of their weight in the relativist culture previously deplored, and that is one reason why I have chosen to ignore them. However, I offer this two-fold defense. Firstly, that the law of reciprocity (also known as The Golden Rule) more or less obligates us to behave in "good" form. Secondly, however, there may be times when our duties require us to perform actions which may not be "good" in the strictest sense, but are at least justifiable. Among many classic examples would be the soldier who commits murder in the defense of his country.
Although I may in time come to describe this theory of mine more fully (and, for that matter, to discover which ancient source undoubtedly originated it), I hope that what little I have here provided will serve to provoke some thought on your own part. As a man much wiser than myself once said, "the unexamined life is not worth living." Ultimately, each must answer for himself, but I hope that this has proven helpful on your way.