Ends Justify the Means

I have friends who don’t understand the title of this post. Here are some examples.

·        Fear whites will be outnumbered. They will be in the minority. Action? Fight immigration of non-whites. Discriminate against blacks. And Hispanics.

·        Don’t understand gays and lesbians. Action? Gossip about people suspected of being gay. Accuse gays of horrid crimes without any proof. Eliminate gays from elected positions. Remove gays from teaching positions. 

·        Don’t trust intelligence of voters. Action? Make voting more difficult via identification cards, complicated registration procedures, etc.

·        Afraid equal access to education will compete with their kids’ career opportunities. Action? Allow tuition and fees at colleges and universities to soar making education prohibitively expensive.

·        Fear their children will learn bad things in public schools. Action?  Dilute public school funding and allow private, religious and charter schools to flourish for their kids. Better yet, home school the kids so they will not learn about homosexuality, liberals, science and sex.

·        Don’t like point of view of some candidates. Action? Spread false stories and reports about the candidate. Gossip to undermine the candidate’s chances.

There are other examples. Same pattern of actions. Shut down the opposition at all costs. Close off options for others to hear opposing views. Rage and bully others so your point of view is the only one available for others to read or hear. Look at only one news source because it makes you comfortable.

Divide and conquer is the action. The ends? Not healthy for the larger society, but it does agree with you viewpoint.


Why the ends do not justify the means: the ends may be legitimate, but how we get there poisons the body politic and our own minds. Erosion of values within ourselves takes root. Soon it doesn’t matter what the ends are. Only goal is to win. And by winning, we lose ourselves, our souls, our very futures.


Pretty simple, really. Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. Set the standards high in what we do, and the ends will most likely turn out fine. Worry about the means first. The ends will happen one way or the other. Keep an eye on them and work to change them if they are not what you want.


Above all, nurture discussion and understanding of the points of view. It is the only true way in which we fully understand the issues in the first place.


The Electoral College was a compromise among the Founding Fathers of the United States to protect landowners and slave owners. Not every resident of the nation had the right to vote. Rural areas were given disproportionate power to offset the power of cities. What was current in those days is not today. And yet we perpetuate the Electoral College because it still gives rural areas owned by few people more power. The ends did not justify the means then. It is doubly so today.


How far has ‘ends justify the means’ infected our social order?


February 18, 2020