I am pleased to see a discussion on virtue. At the beginning of the American republic, it was a basic belief that the survival of self-governing republics depended above all else on the citizens having public virtue.

But it pains me greatly that most Christians accept the reigning conservative economic philosophy of Adam Smith's "invisible hand"; that out of the chaos of selfish pursuit of private vices, "the market" would organize outcomes that lead to public good. As Bernard Bailyn noted on page 28 of "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution" (1967, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press), one of the great founders of free market thinking that conservatives today proudly point to, Bernard Mandelville, was reviled and explicitly denounced by the American pamphleteers and clerics as an opponent of Enlightenment rationalism, one of the five major foundational sources of American revolutionary thinking.

In T"he Creation of the American Republic 1776-1787," (1969, University of North Carolina Press), Gordon S. Wood, writes on pages 53 through 60"

“The sacrifice of individual interests to the greater good of the whole formed the essence of republicanism and comprehended for Americans the idealistic goal of their Revolution. From this goal flowed all of the Americans’ exhortatory literature and all that made their ideology truly revolutionary… it alone was enough to make the Revolution one of the great utopian movements of American history. By 1776 the Revolution came to represent a final attempt, perhaps—given the nature of American society—even a desperate attempt, by many Americans to realize the traditional Commonwealth ideal of a corporate society, in which the common good would be the only objective of government....”

“From the logic of belief that “all government… is or ought to be, calculated for the general good and safety of the community,” …followed the Americans’ unhesitating adoption of republicanism in 1776. The peculiar excellence of republican government was that it was “wholly characteristical of the purport, matter or object for which government ought to be instituted.” By definition it had no other end than the welfare of the people: res publica, the public affairs, or the public good. “The word republic, said Thomas Paine, “means the public good, or the good of the whole, in contradistinction to the despotic form, which makes the good of the sovereign, or of one man, the only object of government.”.... “

“In a republic “each individual gives up all private interest that is not consistent with the general good, the interest of the whole body.” For the republican patriots of 1776 the commonweal was all encompassing—a transcendent object with a unique moral worth that made partial considerations fade into insignificance. “Let regard be had only to the good of the whole” was the constant exhortation by publicists and clergy. Ideally, republicanism obliterated the individual. “A Citizen,” said Sam Adams, “owes everything to the Commonwealth.” “Every man in a republic,” declared Benjamin Rush, “is public property. His time, his talents—his youth—his manhood—his old age—nay more, life, all belong to his country.” “No man is a true republican,” wrote a Pennsylvanian in 1776, “that will not give up his single voice to that of the public.” “

It used to be that corporate charters were strictly limited, and sometimes revoked when a company failed to serve the purposes stated in its charter. Today, we have this perverted and evil notion that a company's sole duty is to increase value for shareholders. Until this odious philosophy is replaced by an understanding of how public virtue must thoroughly suffuse our economic system as well as our body politic, it will be impossible to reverse the moral decline of America.

I find it interesting that the athlete formerly known as Ron Artest changed his name to "Metta World Peace" and then demonstrated in a very powerful way why world peace is so elusive. Until every man and woman starts to base their decisions on putting others (and ultimately God) first, "world peace" will be out of reach. Until we stop elbowing others out of the way for our own personal gain, no "meta" changes will happen in this world. We can expect no more out of the world if we don't start on a very daily, personal and responsible level.