This can get carried to extremes, for example the idea that killing in self-defense is wrong because the killer has just as much right to life as the victim (I don't subscribe to this mentality)
Underneath this layer, however, is the attitude that one's own self, family, group is more worthy of life than an attacker, and (in the extreme) an attacking group may be exterminated, if necessary, to preserve one's own. This is what I'm talking about when I speak of "the Roman foundation" -- the will to survive that can unleash extreme savagery when the layers of charity, consideration, and politeness are stripped away
In order to maintain a civilization, within the civilization it's necessary to maintain certain concepts, to limit the extent of conflict so that the civilization does not rip itself apart. When survival demands that these concepts are removed, the result can be very ugly
Great analysis! I hadn't separated the Moral layer from the Nationalist layer. I've kind of adopted the idea that the Constitution and the idea of freedom form a kind of Nationalist ideal which our current govt hardly lives up to, but the Socialist Govt we're stuck with is limited in how much additional damage they can do by grass roots activists trying to reestablish the principles of a true Constitutional Republic. In essence We the People are the final fourth Check and Balance. Without a better background in political science, I wonder if the upcoming generations are going to be as good an instrument of guidance to the other three branches.
Maybe the determining factor for the survival of a socialist regime wrapping itself in a Constitutional Republic's guise is when sedition, outside threats or economic intrusions are viewed by a sufficient majority as no worse than the state of affairs in the govt at the time. But what a horror to think that the Constitution's Principles would perish from humanity. There is a dignity and aesthetic to letting people have freedom to direct their activities to what their hearts desire with as little intrusion by the will of the mob as possible. A recognition of the potential in each person that is greater than any religious system...Maybe its just progress worship...I don't know...It gives me hope. It sounds like Europe has lost even that.