Sunday Musings – February 21, 2021
Moral Imperatives
The daily goal for most of us is to act in a way which leaves us feeling as if we have left a moral and, thus, honorable, legacy. What we consider moral imperatives will vary as will the primary moral imperatives for that particular hour or day. Recently, in many places in the United States the primary moral imperative has been to survive bitter, artic temperatures without thermostatic heat or faucet water. Some of those were already worried about food and other necessities for their family because of losing their jobs. They may or may not have been able to pay their rent or mortgage. Landlords may or may not have been able to pay their bills or make needed repairs. For still others who are chronically homeless the consistent moral imperative is to survive as best one can. There are many reasons why a person or even a family might be temporary or chronically homeless. Chief among them may often be mental illness which may include addiction, acute PTSD, fear of enclosed spaces, schizophrenia, or some other illness which might not respond to medications or other treatments. There are also those who will say they are “just down on their luck” which may be a euphemism for some chronic condition or may, in fact, be a temporary condition brought on by loss of job or a need for a family to stay poor enough to qualify for needed medical care. Even if not officially poor enough to qualify for assistance, depending on which study one trusts, between 63 and 78 percent of working families are living paycheck to paycheck. It does not take much of a change to leave them homeless. Homeless can mean living on the street or camped out on the couch or floor of a friend or relative until one wears out their welcome.
Abraham Maslow, a United States psychologist, in 1943 posited a theory of a hierarchy of needs of humans. He theorized that five categories of human needs dictate the behavior of an individual. The needs he posited were physiological needs, safely needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs.
Many of our laws are based on the assumption that everyone in the community has the luxury of self-actualization or the luxury to allow the same moral imperatives to guide their behavior. If Maslow is correct, it is only when we humans have our basic needs met that we have the luxury of being self-actualized – being our best selves. I would suggest that our best selves are able to understand that we are all part of a larger whole which is an interactional whole. What one does or does not do affects every part of the whole.
We now know much more than we did in 1943 about some of the factors which affect the brain and, thus, the decisions that one makes and the actions one takes. I still think it is useful to think in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy, but I also think we first have to consider the factors which allow a person to make decisions which approximate a shared reality.
During the bitter cold weather there was a lot of concern for the homeless and those without power, heat or other basics. I seldom heard the judgmental statements I so often hear about the homeless – statements which indicate they are living out the consequences of their choices. Most people to whom I talked instinctively knew that the basic need of the homeless was to stay alive. Imposing other moral imperatives on them did not make sense. Yet, it will be very easy for us to return to judging everyone in the community as if all had an equal opportunity to be self-actualized and, thus, to adhere to the moral imperatives upon which laws are based – moral imperatives imposed by those who have the luxury of having some basic needs met and the delusional state of acting as if one has earned one’s status; acting as if one is one of the good people who deserve to have all needs met.
Written February 21, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Moral Imperatives
The daily goal for most of us is to act in a way which leaves us feeling as if we have left a moral and, thus, honorable, legacy. What we consider moral imperatives will vary as will the primary moral imperatives for that particular hour or day. Recently, in many places in the United States the primary moral imperative has been to survive bitter, artic temperatures without thermostatic heat or faucet water. Some of those were already worried about food and other necessities for their family because of losing their jobs. They may or may not have been able to pay their rent or mortgage. Landlords may or may not have been able to pay their bills or make needed repairs. For still others who are chronically homeless the consistent moral imperative is to survive as best one can. There are many reasons why a person or even a family might be temporary or chronically homeless. Chief among them may often be mental illness which may include addiction, acute PTSD, fear of enclosed spaces, schizophrenia, or some other illness which might not respond to medications or other treatments. There are also those who will say they are “just down on their luck” which may be a euphemism for some chronic condition or may, in fact, be a temporary condition brought on by loss of job or a need for a family to stay poor enough to qualify for needed medical care. Even if not officially poor enough to qualify for assistance, depending on which study one trusts, between 63 and 78 percent of working families are living paycheck to paycheck. It does not take much of a change to leave them homeless. Homeless can mean living on the street or camped out on the couch or floor of a friend or relative until one wears out their welcome.
Abraham Maslow, a United States psychologist, in 1943 posited a theory of a hierarchy of needs of humans. He theorized that five categories of human needs dictate the behavior of an individual. The needs he posited were physiological needs, safely needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs.
Many of our laws are based on the assumption that everyone in the community has the luxury of self-actualization or the luxury to allow the same moral imperatives to guide their behavior. If Maslow is correct, it is only when we humans have our basic needs met that we have the luxury of being self-actualized – being our best selves. I would suggest that our best selves are able to understand that we are all part of a larger whole which is an interactional whole. What one does or does not do affects every part of the whole.
We now know much more than we did in 1943 about some of the factors which affect the brain and, thus, the decisions that one makes and the actions one takes. I still think it is useful to think in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy, but I also think we first have to consider the factors which allow a person to make decisions which approximate a shared reality.
During the bitter cold weather there was a lot of concern for the homeless and those without power, heat or other basics. I seldom heard the judgmental statements I so often hear about the homeless – statements which indicate they are living out the consequences of their choices. Most people to whom I talked instinctively knew that the basic need of the homeless was to stay alive. Imposing other moral imperatives on them did not make sense. Yet, it will be very easy for us to return to judging everyone in the community as if all had an equal opportunity to be self-actualized and, thus, to adhere to the moral imperatives upon which laws are based – moral imperatives imposed by those who have the luxury of having some basic needs met and the delusional state of acting as if one has earned one’s status; acting as if one is one of the good people who deserve to have all needs met.
Written February 21, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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