[Vision2020] George Washington and the Golden Rule

[nickgier at adelphia.net]

Greetings:

GW's BD is coming up so I'm honoring George in my radio commentary this week.  As I argue, his virtue is beyond compare to the current GB's.

Nick Gier

GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE GOLDEN RULE
Happy 275th Birthday, George!

The Golden Rule is a basic moral principle for most of the world's civilizations.  It is found in ancient Greece, India, and China.  Confucius expressed it as a negative imperative: "Don't do unto other as you would not do to yourself," sometimes called the Silver Rule.

One might think intuitively that the Golden Rule would be superior to the Silver Rule because it is more inclusive.  But some of my ethics students have thought otherwise.  They argue that it might be presumptuous, even arrogant, to assume that what you think is good ought to be practiced by others.  It would be much easier to agree on prohibited actions than a long list of alleged good deeds.

With regard to the rules of war, we can honor George Washington for applying the Golden Rule. After a skirmish at Drake's Farm in 1777, seven Americans lay wounded. They offered to surrender, expecting humane treatment. The British response was horrific.  Here is an eye witness account.  The British "dashed out their brains with their muskets.  They ran them through with their bayonets, and made them like sieves."

The British could have justified their actions using the same reasons that some today use for the mistreatment of terror suspects.  The British criticized Americans for not following the rules of military engagement.  Specifically, the British lost many men because of American tree snipers, whom the British condemned as terrorists.  

To the British, the American rebels were insurgents; they were unlawful combatants.  Besides they were horribly ungrateful of the great blessings of British rule, fully appreciated by hundreds of  thousands of Loyalists.  Most important, they were not a sovereign nation under international law; so American soldiers deserved no special protection. (By the way, the some elements of international law were already in place after the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648.)

Returning to the massacre at Drake Farm, there were American soldiers who wanted revenge.  Washington calmed their angry emotions with a principled argument.  He declared that "we are fighting for a cause and our cause requires that we behave with honor."  There was to be no retribution: enemy soldiers were to be housed, fed, and clothed and treated with humanity.

There were about 900 Hessian soldiers captured at the Battle of Trenton. They expected the worst, but they were surprised at their kind treatment and a lesson in the Golden Rule.  In the end Hessian mercenaries were so impressed with American behavior that 25 percent of them decided to stay on and become citizens.  

Robert Krulwich, from whose NPR commentary I draw these facts, concludes as follows: Washington's "decision not to seek revenge, his choice to do the honorable, the moral and the right thing in war, help turn an army of invaders into an army of settlers, and citizens, and neighbors."

Let us reflect for a moment and determine whether the Bush administration's policies follow the Golden Rule.  

•	Would we want other nations to declare that they would take preemptive action against us if they considered us a threat?

•	Would we want other nations to hold our citizens indefinitely, regardless of what they, without any judicial review?

•	Would we allow other nations to use interrogation techniques on our citizens, including simulated drowning, hours-long stress positions, and sexual and religious humiliation?

•	Would we allow other nations to kidnap people off our streets and send them to a country we knew practiced torture?

I trust that your answer to each of these questions is a very emphatic "No."  

Hold-outs may still say that the so-called War on Terror is different and that justifies violating international law. Given their perception of American rebel misbehavior, the British could have said exactly the same thing.  

	Our first president, however, even while his soldiers were on the receiving end of brutal actions, applied the Golden Rule, preserved his virtue and the honor of a glorious young nation in the making.