Image by Lothar Dieterich

Editor's Note: The above video is a short 3:05 minute recap of the article.
                       The audio file below is of the complete article.

In This Article:

  • What are immutable human ethics and why do they matter?
  • How do MAGA policies threaten equality and justice?
  • Why is racism still a pervasive issue in modern America?
  • What role does the U.S. play in combating global genocide?
  • How can we end hatred and create a more ethical society?

As We Face the Next Few Years, Hold Fast to Ethics

by Carl G. Schowengerdt.

Many of the value systems judging right and wrong that we have held in the past — up to this time in human history — have been deeply destructive of human civilization. We're certainly facing that reality right now. Consider recent promises — not even threats — to conduct mass deportations in this country, and to adopt flagrantly racist policies designed to do harm.

Critics have noted that Donald Trump's current anti-immigration rhetoric promotes the worst aspects of racism. Yet we are a country that thrives on diversity, and the continuing flood of immigrants has given us a richness of opportunity, energy and creativity that is unmatched in any other country.  

How do we withstand the cruelty? We can stand up to it by holding onto immutable human ethics. These are principles of optimal human behavior that can stand firm in the face of hatred, bigotry, and cruelty:


innerself subscribe graphic


Human Ethics are those values and behaviors that best provide the deepest regard for all other humans, and the deepest regard for all other life, recognizing that this deep regard is necessary for the fulfillment, and the survival of our human species.

Resisting MAGA and Racism

Donald Trump's MAGA policies do the opposite of what he claims; instead of making America great again, it wants to make America less again; it wants to re-establish racism and religious bigotry in our country; it wants to destroy our justice system and democracy; it wants to obliterate the freedom that makes America great.

But racism has been part of this country since before its founding. It's been present in the United States of America since slavery began in this country in the sixteenth century. It may not be as flagrantly present as in the past, but it's still present — and many of its hidden forms are coming to the surface.

In 2024, in the U.S., there is no doubt that it is more difficult for a person of color to obtain a good job, a good education, a car loan, or a reasonable house mortgage; to live in a nice neighborhood, have a long, enjoyable life, or get smiles from strangers; to receive excellent medical care; to stay out of court, stay out of prison, or be a head coach, college president, corporate executive or elected official; to stay away from illicit drugs, have the same parents throughout life; to not be stopped by the police, not be killed by the police, have your baby survive infancy, get a management position, receive community awards for citizenship, have friendly neighbors, not be afraid of vigilantes, not have your church bombed or burned, or not receive racial slurs or condemnation.

Life for persons of color is an obstacle field that privileged whites do not have to face — and if Trump has his way, it's going to get even harder.  

Standing against genocide

It was not until 1948, through the heroic efforts of Raphael Lemkin, that the United Nations adopted a resolution banning genocide as a crime against humanity, punishable for any nation in which those crimes were committed. Yet the world community has stood by as other genocides continue to go unpunished.

The U.S. has, in particular, been cowardly in responding to the needs of other citizens of other nations when they are the targets of genocide. President Bill Clinton, for example, failed to act while Serbia was carrying out a massive genocide against Muslim Croats and Bosnians. He did so only when, under intense pressure from Congressman Bob Dole and fellow Congress members, it had become politically damaging to not respond to that crime against humanity.  

We are still struggling to realize the extent to which equal opportunity for humans should reach. We have, up to this time, believed that if there was genocide somewhere else in the world, it was someone else’s problem. But now it's our problem. What we have not understood is that we are now one world, and that crimes against humanity affect all of us. Now we are under a clear obligation to resist it in our own country. 

Ending hatred 

If we don't end reactionary hatred and the bigotry based in a false superiority complex, we will never advance to an ethical society — where there is equal opportunity for all its citizens, and equal respect for all humans. As a megalomaniac psychopath tries to tear down our democracy and replace it with a white Christian dictatorship in the White House, as he attempts to rewrite history, deny the suffering of slavery, re-establish segregation, and deny gender preference, we can resist by focusing on our immutable ethics. 

These principles of ethics are not attached to any religion, nation, mythology, philosophy, theology, or god. If we are to survive as a species on this planet, principles of ethics need to be universally adopted and practiced by all nations. But we can start here, at home, as that is where the biggest challenge lies. Then we can return America to its status as the land where dreams can come true.

Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Book by this Author:

BOOK: Human Ethics

Human Ethics
by Carl G. Schowengerdt.

What a mess! Since the beginning of human societies, our sense of optimum human behavior has been thrown into a steaming cauldron of right, wrong, ethics, morals, religions, mythologies and theologies. Further, the guidelines we withdraw from this simmering stew keep changing from generation to generation. We come to fiercely conflicting conclusions about right and wrong human behavior, depending on which of these philosophies is attached to our human values.

It is time to end that confusion. This book examines human ethics and morals throughout human history, from several different perspectives, then provides a definition of ethics which is immutable, unchanging, and unattached to any society, place, politics, economic climate, mythology or religious philosophy. The compelling reasons why this definition should be universally adopted and followed are concisely presented.

For more info and/or to order this book, click here.  Also available as a Kindle edition.

About the Author

Carl G. Schowengerdt is a retired surgeon who grew up in a family of daily religious and ethical discussions. His father was a Methodist minister; his brother a Methodist bishop. Schowengerdt instead studied medicine, became a physician, and practiced surgery for 40 years, specializing in lung and esophageal cancer, as well as family practice. He chaired the Ethics Committee for Genesis Health Systems; was medical director of the Genesis/James cancer unit and Rambo Memorial Respiratory Health Clinic of Muskingam County; and was president of the nonprofit Appalachian Primary Care. His new book is Human Ethics. Learn more at Ycitypublishing.com

More books by this Author.

Article Recap:

This article highlights the urgency of holding fast to human ethics as a guide to navigate current societal challenges. It critiques MAGA policies for fostering bigotry and racism and examines how systemic inequality continues to oppress people of color in the U.S. It emphasizes the global obligation to combat genocide and the need to eliminate hatred and reactionary ideologies. By adhering to universal principles of human ethics, a just and equitable society becomes possible.