The Dangerous Philosophy Of The End Justifies The Means-ism

The philosophy expressed by “The end justifies the means” is supposedly attributed to Machiavelli. As we start 2024, this philosophy is rampant and shows no signs of abating. To live life according to this philosophy is mostly a dangerous endeavour because it lacks any moral attributes except for the end result––assuming it’s a positive one.

Sometimes, how you get to the outcome of a situation is justifiable, even if it’s not legal. For instance, an ambulance racing through red lights and climbing onto the curb adjacent to a sidewalk can be justified if someone is critically injured and needs to get to the hospital fast. 

However, today, people are rationalizing any action to get to a particular agenda or to right a perceived wrong. The problem is that civilization can break down when we allow such justifications.

Get Trump

Esteemed constitution lawyer professor Alan Dershowitz wrote a book, Get Trump

As the subtitle says, it threatens civil liberties and the rule of law. Dershowitz is not a Trump fan by any means. Still, he is a traditional liberal and believes in freedom of expression. That freedom is under assault in America, along with many countries in the West.

The announcement by the Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows banning Trump off the ballot for the Republican primary race is preposterous. The rationale is that Trump is an insurrectionist. Of course, Trump has not been convicted of insurrection, nor has he been prosecuted for that charge. Even more ridiculous is that Shenna Bellows has not been elected, merely appointed to her position, and she is an avowed Trump hater.

So now, the criteria for whether someone is allowed to be a candidate stems from whether or not they are likeable. This is a total repudiation of democracy. According to such a principle, if someone doesn't like a politician, then they can remove that person. For the voting public who selected the politician, that's too bad.

What if the Republicans carry out the same tactic against President Biden. They could say he is mentally incompetent to serve as President, and they wouldn't be wrong; however, if he is chosen by his party, then he has to represent that party no matter what one thinks of him.

Things are so polarized now in America that it doesn't matter what is done to Trump, legal or otherwise; the endgame is to prevent him from running. I wrote an article on April 12, 2021, on the fracturing of America, which I have imported here from another site.

The way things are going, there is no more extended room for compromise between the parties. 

Terrorism

We had the recent mass killing of Israeli civilians in the name of religious extremism. It didn't matter that these were civilians just going about their lives. They were raped, and mutilated, including slicing off breasts and decapitation; of women, babies and men, a brutality difficult to comprehend. All was fair game.

In Africa, anti-Christian Islamist gangs like Bomo Haram and Islamic State have wiped out whole Christian villages, all in the name of ideology.

It's interesting that the protesters in the West were absent from protesting the African atrocities on behalf of Boko Haram but were quick to take to the streets supporting Hamas. However, most wouldn't know where Israel or "Palestine" is even located. It doesn't matter; the end justifies the means, and the end is the elimination of Israel.

Climate Change

When you are agenda-driven, there is no openness to discussing any alternatives. It's full steam ahead. The climate change industry is slowly but surely forcing electric vehicles on us, whether we can afford them.

Why new engine emission rules quietly introduced just before Christmas will change Australia's most popular utes, SUVs and 4WDs forever

So, Australia is going by European standards to achieve what it wants. The freedom to buy the vehicle of your choice is quickly disappearing. The population is being trained inexorably to cede their freedoms. If Covid taught us anything, it was how quickly governments take many of our fundamental human rights away for a cause.

We regularly see protesters like Greta Thunberg blocking roads and interrupting lectures, all in the name of the climate change agenda. There is no room for moderation. The end justifies the means.

You can see where this philosophy takes us. Anyone with a cause can rationalize whatever it takes to achieve goals, legal or not. We then get to a breakdown in civilized society. The values of the past that we accepted as enshrined in the founding documents of many Western countries no longer matter. The ideology is the point, and nothing else matters.