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Morality is a social phenomenon. It is the difference of purpose, decisions, and actions between those that are known as right and those that are wrong. In this society, morals are important and are imperative to help society run. However, a lot of times people get the true meaning of morality mixed up or they believe something is moral but in reality, it’s just beneficial for themselves. In Joan Didion’s essay “On Morality,” Didion digs deep into how to know what is the true meaning of morality, why it is important, and how society has their morals mixed up. It’s important to understand because it’s a discussion that occurs in big events that happened in the United States. Dating back to the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement, all the way until 2019 to today during Trump’s impeachment trial.
In Didion’s essay “On Morality,” Didion expresses her concern with the concept of morality in terms of how people understand it and how they use it. There is deep concern in her tone towards how the word is being used and how many times it’s being repeated. This is one of her more straightforward statements of her opinions on the society of her time and she maintains this position of concern for the society as a whole throughout the entire essay. She is truly concerned with the fact that American society has the word morality confused and they completely forgot or misunderstood the true meaning of it. Didion believes that humanity thinks morality is something “good” that people do but it isn’t morality if the person is just doing it to benefit themselves. One statement that Didion states that stood out to me was, “Because when we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something or need something, not that it is a pragmatic necessity for us to have it, but that it is a moral imperative that we have it, then is when we join the fashionable madmen, and then is when the thin whine of hysteria is heard in the land, and this is when we are in bad trouble. And I suspect we are already there.” She is saying that American society is trying to reach a certain level of morality and society is so stuck on this that it has lost its actual true meaning a society has different ways of being “moral”. When it became imperative to have it, it became a “fashion” trend. And this has been happening throughout history. One big event that this conversation relates to is the Civil Rights Movement.
The Civil Rights Movement took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for African Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. After so many decades of racism and slavery, African Americans had enough and decided to do something about it. In the mid-20th century, African Americans had had more than enough prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many whites, mobilized and began a non-violent fight for equality that lasted about two decades. This relates to Didion’s “On Morality” because this is the true meaning of morality. Fighting for change in a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially one held by a society. Giving African Americans the same rights as everyone else has to do with morality. It is immoral to treat someone differently just because of their skin color. And this was the “fashion” trend occurring during this time. It was dehumanizing and immoral but the people just didn’t understand that. It is immoral to segregate someone based on their skin color. However, African Americans fighting for their rights is moral because they aren’t doing it to benefit the individual but to benefit a community/country as a whole. Discriminating people because of their skin color and now allowing them to vote, go to school, sit, or be at certain places is immoral. Segregation is immoral. Fighting for the right to live a normal human life and have rights is moral. To this day, society still has the meaning of morality mixed up. People who think that they’re doing something “moral” but in reality, they’re just doing it to benefit themselves. A current event that is showcasing this is Trump’s impeachment trial.
Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is a current event that has to do with our current United States president and questioning whether he is abusing his power as president or not. After the emergence of a whistleblower alleged that Donald Trump may have abused the power of the presidency, House leadership concluded that impeachment might be necessary and began an inquiry. The impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump was initiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24, 2019, after Trump was accused of withholding military aid and the phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arose. On December 18, 2019, the House voted to impeach the president on both charges of specifying criminal bribery and wire fraud charges as part of the abuse of power charge. This relates to Didion’s “On Morality” because Trump truly believes that what he does for this country is “moral” but in reality, he does things to benefit himself and his political ideologies. Didion explains that once someone starts to do something they believe is “moral” just to make themselves feel better or just to benefit themselves, then it doesn’t have anything to do with morality. Trump is only looking out for himself and his political party and what benefits them, not the people as a whole and that is not moral. Didion deeply expresses how once something becomes about personal interests, it is no longer based on morality or “morals.”
In conclusion, American society has morals and the meaning of morality is all mixed up. It has been an issue throughout history, being brought up in conversations during events in the 1960’s, all the way to current events occurring today. Society needs to understand that once they do something they believe is “good” just to benefit the individual, it is no longer related to morality. This is a big societal issue because it is brought up during big events that happen in the United States and it can either be fixed or society will forever not understand morality and it will lose its true meaning.
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