As I read it you've raised two distinct, very interesting points.
First, the question of whether goodness requires culture (we can decide what that means). As MG says this is an enormous question. What are you opposing goodness to -- non-goodness or lack of goodness?
That's critical for the rest, I think. Is there a before when goodness has not arisen yet, or must it be wrested from its opposite,
or kept from being crushed,
or is there something else entirely?
Second, the question of why people try to display their goodness (or to intuit the goodness of others) in terms of superficial things. This isn't a matter just of our modern age. Remember the Puritans and the Elect. If you're chosen, how do you explain that's the case? Can you do it by means of your disciplined body, in the beauty of your gaze, in the affluence of your entourage, in the piety of your modest dress?
Truth and beauty, yes? We can be forgiven for conflating them, for thinking that beautiful people may be good, if beautiful is understood correctly. But why do people think these products, these clothes will make them beautiful? Maybe the problem is not that today's people don't know what truth is, but rather that they don't know what beauty is. :-)
Kevin Swaney tagged this post as Essential.
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Linda OReilly tagged this post as Brilliant.
