I share here my takeaways from this YouTube conversation between the Hon John Anderson and Dr James Orr. I had already embedded the conversation in my previous post “AR. Absconding Responsibility?“, but I embed it here again for easy reference. I usually recommend that you watch the entire episode, not just skim and listen to snippets, and you can always return to watch them again on YouTube when you feel it necessary. In one sense, YouTube videos have also become somewhat like books, whether ebooks, audiobooks or my favourite paper books. Maybe I’ll have space for my own book library one day. Perhaps after I’m seventy.

What is the difference between a contract and a covenant?

We can be covenant keepers and we can be oathbreakers. The Singapore Pledge is actually a good example of a covenant. A covenant says that we will do or not do certain things, and we will do our utmost to ensure that we will Do What We Said We Would Do, DWWSWWD. This is better than DWYSYWD “Do What You Said You Would Do”. The notion of Promise is much more positive than the notion of Obligation. I HAVE to do it versus I GET to do it. These two clips from YouTube illustrate.

The Societal Shift from “Sin” to “Syndrome”.

When we say “sin” we are acknowledging PR Personal Responsibility. When we say “syndrome” we are engaging in Public Relations by saying INMF “It’s Not My Fault”. Only when it becomes overwhelmingly clear that it IS our fault do we start saying that, yes, it is PR Personal Responsibility at which we have failed BUT these were the external forces, environment and so forth which were the WHY we were blocked from fulfilling our PR Personal Responsibilities, jointly and severally. When we acknowledge sin we are behaving as RA Responsible Adults. When we say we have a “syndrome” we are displayingthe symptoms of RA Regressive Adolescents. When people are told repeatedly “You Poor Thing”, then people will BECOME “Poor Things”. When people are told repeatedly that “It was stolen from you” then people will demand that someone else restore “It” to them, whatever “It” was. When people say “I did not treasure what I had enough that I took steps to guard it well” then it is much more difficult to steal “It” from them. The dificulty of stealing well-guarded treasures becomes impossible when those well-guarded treasures are growth qualities which no one can steal from you, collectively called Human Capital.

Freedom vs Safety

Some time ago, I watched what I thought was a curious conversation on “The Pacific Century” called “Why the Chinese – thanks to Confucius – don’t want freedom”. It was so at odds with Milton Friedman’s Freedom and Equality quote, which is also one expression of SAFETY as is the title of this chapter. On Safety, it is not about making everybody and everything safe, but to take steps to make them safe ENOUGH. Absolute safety only exists when one is SAVED, not that one tries to make oneself SAFE.

Christianity: Suffering is not intrinsically negative.

A phrase that we used to hammer into our own minds was “The only easy day was yesterday”. That actually gives us strength to press onwards, but only if we know that the goal is worthy enough. From this chapter of the video, I like the phrase that “…if I hadn’t been through suffering I would be insufferable”. Instead of trying to avoid suffering at all costs, we need to understand that some suffering is part of life and growing up. As we grow up we need to grow stronger. Strong people are gentle when helping those who are weak. Gentleness makes us great.

Endless laws mark the end of society

In this chapter, the Colombian philosopher Nicholas Gomez Davila is quoted as saying that “Dying societies accumulate laws like dying men accumulate remedies”. When a society becomes addicted to enacting more and more laws and more and more regulations so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for itself, that society is morally and spiritually bankrupt. Moral values and civic consciousness start in the home. Schools and the rest of society are meant to reinforce, not replace the home in this process of raising the young. Milton Friedman, in his “Free to Choose” series, has a portion on the Federal Register, which I embed here.

There is so much more which can be extracted, and so much more inspiration will keep springing forth from videos like this, meaning the conversation between the Hon John Anderson and Dr Jamess Orr. These morsels will suffice for this post. You’re welcome!

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