My Own Values

Yesterday’s Gryphem post was all about values. Specifically, it discussed the fact that what we do, as a society or as an individual, reveals what we really value.

After writing about ‘big society’ and other people’s values, I began to think about my own values and beliefs. I have done this many times, but not often explicitly. I identified many of my own personal values, and compared them with values I observe in those around me. This is not a perfect or complete account of what I believe. It is a reasonable approximation of how my own values match up with the people and groups around me.

My personal values and those of my society and culture sometimes align, and sometimes do not. In no particular order, here are a few things I realized.
     • I value human rights. Some in my society value prosperity more.
     • I value honesty. More people in my society value persuasive skill in the twin forms of lawsuits and marketing, or the wishful thinking of political correctness.
     • I value security for my family. Thank goodness, most of my fellow-citizens share this value.
     • I value learning. Most in my culture value education, although they are often enamored with academic credentials more than with true learning.
     • I value science as a means to discover the wonders of our world, and as a means to make life better for people. Too many in my society consider science as a means to invent new and better means to generate profit.
     • I value peace and beauty and the natural world, the forests and the creatures. My society does preserve some wilderness, but also covets raw materials and the potential for building wealth.
     • I value human judgment and intuition and intangibles. My society values data, the appearance of objectivity, and quantifiable results.
     • I value work, see its inherent worth, and see as its objective the improvement of our world. Many in my society see the objective of work as the creation of profit or the accumulation of wealth.
     • I value thrift and economic responsibility. Most in my society, especially in government, would rather delay payment for debts we incur. I find obligating our children to pay for our immediate gratification to be morally reprehensible.
     • I value that which is real and authentic.  Imitations and fantasies may be amusing for a time, but reality provides the greatest beauty, meaning, and validity.  I believe that I came to this realization as a result of growing up between a major theme park and some awesome natural wonders.  The natural wonders were far superior.
     • I value cooperation. Too many people in my society prefer stark partisanship. A caustic, divisive public dialogue is neither inevitable nor morally upright. It is a preference enforced by those with the loudest bullhorns.
     • I hold as a goal the preservation and improvement of our world, natural and cultural. Many in my society consider that it is more important to improve their own personal situation than it is to pass to the next generation a better situation and an improved place to live.
     • I value my own ethnic and family history, and at the same time find joy in diversity. Too many do not understand that the natural result of honoring differences is greater respect for everyone, self included. Mutual respect is the root of sharing, cooperation, and an environment of peaceful interaction. There is no contradiction in respecting both myself and others.
     • I value faith, a real relationship with the Divine. I respect the right of others to believe or not believe in spiritual matters and a supreme being, but it is the center of my world-view and a source of meaning and motivation for my life.
     • I value our Judeo-Christian heritage and our honorable American traditions. Most of my society also values these, although a vocal minority tirelessly works to undermine our historic moral foundation.
     • I value that which is dependable, proven, and time-tested. Many in my society value more that which is new and thrilling, unproven but fashionable, lacking in merit but popular.
     • Most of all, I value the people I love. In this, I am joined by a mighty throng of humanity. Thank God!

Many people share these ideals I attempt to uphold. I hope you share at least a few of them.

The next post will be about obstacles that persons of moral commitment can expect to encounter in the big wide world.

Gryphem

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