Trust And Integrity Are Precious Resources, Easily

Are People The Best Judges Of Their Own Happiness, Or Outsiders? In Defining Happiness, Should We Think Of Entire Lives Or Of Shorter Periods Such As Moments, Days, Or Years? And To What Extent Are Virtue And Happiness Linked?

Liars Share With Those They Deceive The Desire Not To Be Deceived.

Empathy And Fellow Feeling Form The Very Basis Of Morality. The Capacities For Empathy, For Feeling Responsibility Toward Others And For Reaching Out To Help Them Can Be Stunted Or Undermined Early On, Depending On A Child's Experiences In The Home And Neighborhood. It Becomes Too Easy To Turn Our Backs On Fellow Human Beings... To Have 'compassion Fatigue.' Technology, We Are Learning, Is Not Neutral.

The Television Screen Is The Lens Through Which Most Children Learn About Violence. Through The Magnifying Power Of This Lens, Their Everyday Life Becomes Suffused By Images Of Shootings, Family Violence, Gang Warfare, Kidnappings, And Everything Else That Contributes To Violence In Our Society. It Shapes Their Experiences Long Before They Have Had The Opportunity To Consent To Such Shaping Or Developed The Ability To Cope Adequately With This Knowledge.

Trust Is A Social Good To Be Protected Just As Much As The Air We Breathe Or The Water We Drink. When It Is Damaged, The Community As A Whole Suffers; And When It Is Destroyed, Societies Falter And Collapse