“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain
This warning by Twain cuts to the core of a civilization in decline, particularly when viewed through the lens of “The Fragile Chain of Freedom” and Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development. As a society moves from spiritual faith to courage, then from abundance into selfishness and apathy, a quiet but devastating transformation occurs. One of the greatest casualties is moral discernment. The result is the mass production of a particular kind of person: the compliant conformist.
Kohlberg’s moral development theory outlines six stages that humans may pass through in their ethical maturity. Yet, within the chain of freedom’s decline, the majority of society becomes stalled in Stage 4: Law and Order Morality. This is where a person equates morality with blind obedience to authority, social norms, and institutional rules. They are not guided by conscience or principle but by the need for acceptance and fear of disruption.
The Mechanism of Moral Stagnation
Most people do not move past Stage 4 because:
- Ignorance: Education systems no longer teach how to think but what to think. Philosophical, spiritual, and classical liberal principles have been gutted and replaced with shallow careerism and propaganda.
- Pride: Stage 4 individuals often believe they are “good” because they comply. They confuse conformity with righteousness and shun those who question or rebel as dangerous or unpatriotic.
- Fear of Isolation: People fear becoming social outcasts. The system rewards compliance and punishes dissent.
- Moral Relativism: In a culture where truth is subjective, standing on eternal principles is seen as arrogant or naive.
The Social Outcome: A New Kind of Citizen
As this process unfolds, freedom-loving, truth-seeking individuals are outnumbered and often silenced. The new model citizen that emerges is:
- Rule-Obedient but ethically shallow.
- Industrious but not creative.
- Busy but not introspective.
- Comfort-seeking but not courageous.
This is the citizen who sees government overreach, censorship, and corruption yet rationalizes it as necessary for order and safety. They may see the bondage developing but are too morally paralyzed to resist it. Worse, many become its enforcers.
The Elite’s Strategy: Keep the Masses at Stage 4
The global elite benefit from a society stuck in Stage 4. These citizens don’t question narratives. They police one another. They fight about political parties, celebrities, and surface issues—never reaching the root of systemic moral decline.
Tools used to trap citizens in Stage 4 include:
- Mass media distraction
- Consumerism and trivial pleasure
- Fear-based politics
- Hero-worship of institutions
The Call of Higher Morality: Stage 5 and 6
Breaking free requires advancing to Stage 5 (Social Contract) and especially Stage 6 (Universal Ethical Principles), where truth, conscience, and justice guide action regardless of popular opinion or institutional permission.
But such advancement is rare because:
- It requires suffering, solitude, and sacrifice.
- It often demands standing against the majority.
- It demands a reawakening of the soul, and a renewed culture of virtue, education, and spiritual anchoring.
Final Reflection
To ask, What kind of man are we producing? is to ask whether our society is still capable of moral courage. Twain’s advice to question the majority is not cynicism; it is survival. For once the majority drifts into moral stagnation, those who remain awake become the last lifeline of liberty. If ignored, freedom dies not by force—but by cultural suffocation.
We are not only in danger of producing men who cannot recognize tyranny, but who will defend it. The call is to awaken, elevate, and cross the threshold of moral adolescence into moral adulthood.
The bridge to freedom is not more law. It is more conscience.
