Our friend, Morally Myopic Marmot, will soon be making his first appearance. Moral myopia as it was originally termed refers to a distortion of moral vision where things are not in focus. Morally Myopic Marmot will comment on our tendency to bend or ignore our morality and ethics as we go beyond our close social, family and cultural circle.

The  earliest reference I could locate of the term is an article in the Journal of Advertising Ethics and Advertising: Moral Muteness, Moral Myopia, and Moral Imagination by Drumwright and Murphy.

M.M. Marmot fascinates me because I find that so many people make asymmetric assumptions about society. They decry the behaviour of one group in society while tolerating or ignoring the same behaviour in another. And for many, their core beliefs are so strongly wedded to these assumptions.

Once upon a time, the assumption was made that visitors to large media websites (cnn.com, finance.yahoo.com. etc.) would be able to contribute to the public discourse by commenting on articles. Sadly, whatever intelligent conversation that existed was soon over-ridden by posters who:

• Had a fixed view of the world, unchangeable by reason, new evidence or logic
• Felt that the louder they shouted, the more we would realize the correctness of their view (much like the running joke of the American abroad – when unable to speak the local language, he merely shouts louder in English as if, somehow, that would make his point clear)
• Used ALL CAPS in a significant part of their comment either unaware or ignoring the internet convention that it is tantamount to shouting and quickly becomes annoying.

I often thought of what witty and reasoned replies I might make but realized that it would be as effective in combating these posters as would shouting against a hurricane.

Instead, I’m writing down my thoughts about events, public policy and general observations mostly just to retain my sanity. I have no expectations of changing the world, my words will never be that important. Enjoy.