Values

Vision:

A world where the values “honesty” and “respect” influence the behaviour of everyone on earth to a much greater degree than they have done historically.

Discussion:

• There are several human values that we could focus on, but it is easier for people to focus on one or two items at a time.
• Honesty and Respect seem like a good starting point.
• We could choose to invite the leaders of all religions, political parties, corporations, and other influential organizations to affirm publicly that they believe in and support the values of “honesty” and “respect”.
• Even in a world were it is difficult to achieve broad agreement on religious, political, business or social philosophies, it is hard to imagine that the vast majority of people all around the world could not agree on these two fundamental human values.
• Of course, human nature seems to be such that many things in life can be interpreted or applied in extreme ways, at least by a few. Any vision is likely to break down when taken to the extreme. Healthy debate will be required to establish what is extreme and what is not.
• With wide acceptance around the world, it would be much easier to focus on these two values on a personal basis and in our homes, our schools, our churches, our businesses, and virtually any other organization in a way that is acceptable, meaningful, and consistent.
• Human beings, unlike virtually any other life form, are sufficiently self aware and have the intellectual capacity to establish and live by a set of values and to make choices that can shape our own evolutionary destiny.
• It seems to be more challenging for human beings to live by these values and make choices day in and day out consistent with these values, than not live by these values. We have all seen how easy it is for human beings to not live by these values, from simple disrespect between individuals to atrocities involving genocide, and war.
• Human beings have an enormous capacity for good although from what one sees and hears in the media, one might conclude that the capacity for “good” is overwhelmed by our capacity for “evil”. But perhaps our view is distorted by this media. It appears that we are more interested in news about evil or bad things than good things, and thus, that is what gets reported on a disproportionate basis. We could make a choice to challenge this focus on the negative.
• By starting with two simple values that are widely accepted by individuals, religions, political parties, businesses, and other organizations, it will be easier to develop a global culture reinforcing these values. In time, perhaps there will be fewer and fewer bad things happening on earth.

What do you think? Ask yourself "What are my values choices in life?"