Letter: Standards of honor, service rule out one candidate

Posted 6/15/16

To the editor:

Several people have asked me how I will vote in November. As an independent I often get this question. So here is my answer: “Ask not how you can be served. Rather, ask how you …

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Letter: Standards of honor, service rule out one candidate

Posted

To the editor:

Several people have asked me how I will vote in November. As an independent I often get this question. So here is my answer: “Ask not how you can be served. Rather, ask how you may be of service.” I once heard a wise man say some time after President Kennedy uttered his famous saying which began, “Ask not what your country can do for you…etc.” In these words there is the beginning of the definition of honor, namely, selflessness. I believe that service is the foundation of honor be it military or public service, and that its opposite, selfishness, must be the basis for dishonor.

As I see it, those who regard the degree of their financial profit as the chief measure of a man’s or a woman’s worth are likewise unable to recognize dishonor in their motives when the line is crossed between fair profit and greed. They believe that they have worked hard for their profit and therefore have nothing to apologize for. They evade taxes. They fire workers and move their businesses out of the country and their investments offshore. Unapologetically, they make deals for profit. The end justifies the means.

To them it is all good. They see government as oppressive, especially when it enacts laws and regulations to protect men, women and children from the abuses of greed run wild. Water supplies and the environment are poisoned, child labor is condoned, labor unions which were formed to combat exploitation of workers and nepotism are vilified, and the science of climate change is denied. Business executives are considered to run for government office on the basis of the amount of money they have accumulated despite the means employed to create the profit. My position is that capitalism is good. Greed is bad. There is a difference and that difference is rooted in honor. Greed without compassion is selfishness. Selfishness is dishonor. A selfish presidential candidate is dishonorable.

Further dishonor is bestowed on those who would pretend to lead our country by prejudice an disdain of foreigners. It is a fact that in the 19th century the America First or Know Nothing movement saw Catholics and Irishmen as the threat to our nation’s stability. Later in the region in which I live it was Italians and French Canadians and Poles and Portuguese etc. Today these are now the Americans who persecute the latest newcomers. In the 20th century, the KKK persecuted African-Americans and Jews. This fear of foreigners, this xenophobia, has always been cloaked in patriotism, in some cases literally wrapped in a flag. At times we have seen Old Glory adorn the clothing of those who hate or fear ethnic newcomers. At times we have seen a banner of the Confederacy. We have even seen individuals dressed in pseudo-military outfits complete with plastic weapons while flexing their pseudo patriotism for all to see.

I maintain that, symbols of our nation’s greatness displayed in this fashion render no honor to patriots or to those who have died for freedom which honors inclusiveness. This false flag waving does only disservice to veterans by disrespecting the principles for which they have sacrificed their lives and health. Xenophobia cannot be hidden while wrapped in a flag. That is dishonorable as well.

Our next president must treat colleagues, women, the disabled and dissenters with respect. There is no honor in mockery. Our next president cannot expect to rule as chairman of the board but to govern surrounded by advisors and not sycophants. Our next president must know how to listen to others and to accept sound advice while being thoughtful and not rash. Our next president must not believe that his/her judgements can be whimsically declared one moment only to be “walked back” unabashedly the next. Our next president must not hide his true intentions by merely reading a self-serving script intending to deceive those who listen to the counterfeit words.

In short, our next president must be vetted completely in terms of capacity to serve with honor. We must look at the past dealings of the individual. We must look to the present actions and words and we must weigh what they say and in the context in which it is said. This will surely reveal a very clear picture of the person who would be representing the principles of this great nation. The voter must choose the most honorable candidate if we are to continue to make progress as the greatest nation among nations. If the voter is true to the principles of honor and selflessness, and sincere service, from my vantage point at least one candidate should be eliminated. It is hoped that the majority of my fellow Americans would agree.

Dr. Charles W. Santos

Tiverton

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