Values

Today I thought I'd write about "values." Rather than talking about what I value I just thought I'd write about what it means to value something. I had a talk about this with one of my professors over a year ago and it was a really fun discussion. Basically we came up with this: values are for people who don't want to justify their opinions.

We hear people talk about values all the time. Values are in the news, values are brought up in political discussions, values are mentioned in child rearing and the list could go on. The thing that all discussions of value have in common is that they are subjective. Think about it, if someone says they value something I can't tell them they don't value it. They aren't making a claim about the thing they value, they are only making a claim regarding their relationship to what they value, namely, that they value it.

This makes speaking in terms of values very misleading. When you say you value something it sounds like you're making a profound and deliberate statement regarding what you value, but in reality, you're only giving the pretense of a substantial position. Values have nothing to do with right and wrong. Hitler valued racial purity, Jeffrey Dahmer valued a good meal, and Voldemort valued power (just read the first Harry Potter book), but these values would be considered bad by most.

I think that people are staring to speak in terms of values because they want to skirt the issue of what they really think and feel. They don't want to subject their opinions to the strict scrutiny of the truth, they don't want to speak about whether something is right or wrong, they don't want to offend anyone or put forth the effort required for a substantial position. What they do want is to look like they have something to say, sound well informed, mimic agreement, or sound intelligent.

Oh, and on that note, (running with the idea of how values "mimic agreement") why do you think politicians constantly talk about "good old-fashioned values"? What are these values? Well, because they're talking about values, they're not obligated to say. These vague values could refer to anything from slavery to making a good car. When someone says "good old fashioned values" I think of American Industry, or people knowing their neighbor, but someone else might think of something entirely different. Basically, speaking about good old fashioned values is letting them say "I believe in X where X= whatever you think is important." This lets them make everyone feel like they're on their side without even taking a side. This really gets on my nerves. Speaking in terms of values is just posturing.

I hope we all can take an approach to life where we see right and wrong. We don't have to be pretentious or offensive, we just need to be aware that some decisions are better than others and that not all opinions are equal.

Now please keep in mind that I'm not saying we shouldn't have values. Of course we should. Values are important, even necessary, for any thinking person. I am just afraid of, and writing against, how discussing important matters in terms of what we value leads to a relativist approach to truth.

Well...you know what? Forget it. How about this: I value meaningful discussion, I value discussions that focus on right and wrong, and I value not opining in terms of values... see how much easier that is?