Adherence to morality is the simple, basic, daily maintenance of society. civil behavior is not adherence to morality. it is simply conformance with social customs. conformance with social customs is only moral if the social customs themselves are moral. society, like buildings, requires maintenance. if maintenance is neglected for too long, society, like a building, will reach a state of decrepitude where it can no longer be repaired but, like the building, must be torn down. competence is a product of moral values. moral values necessitate looking to the betterment of people and systems aside from one's own self. society is a cooperative system that requires people to look to the betterment of others and of the system as a whole and not strictly to their own immediate self interest. thus, competence requires morality and immorality breeds incompetence. the rampant immorality within our society is causing the very incompetence that is destroying it. edit: what is happening to capital letters? i drafted this in another document and had the first letter of every sentence capitalized.