Morality goes hand in hand with empathy. If you imagine the worst about other people, you can justify nearly any awful behavior; if you try to understand other people’s motivations, it becomes easier to summon kindness and generosity.
Democracy or authoritarianism are more than mere governing mechanisms, these are attitudes that trickle down to the lowest rung of the society.
It seems that our brains can invent made-up situations where an immoral act in one context becomes moral in another. From there, it’s a small leap to accept the act as moral in the original situation as well.
Well, the gods have waned and now each of us is born in a state almighty. With unbridled and absolute power over its citizens, should there be a moral code for the state?