Moral Man and Immoral Society - Reinhold Niebuhr - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Rational Resources

• Ignorance and selfishness are the ultimate sources of conflict and injustice.
• Kant's moral imperative (ie universality)
• Rationality destroys acceptance of injustice.
• Laisez faire vs suppression of discontent (?)
• Human intelligence is not growing fast enough to master the growing social problems created by technological advances.

My thoughts:  There are many rational resources available and many can and do contribute alot to the issues of inequality and injustice, but I agree with Dr. Niebuhr that there is absolutely a growing chasm between what we do in society and our ability to make sure it is done justly and equitably. Technological developments race to make discoveries before their competitors and shareholders expect their companies to be vigilant about exploiting every opportunity available to them for increased profits. Social debate and legal decision making can not possibly keep  pace.