Myth: It's wrong for a community to teach values.

To comment on this video, go to: http://beingism.org/community/?q=node/13

Note: This video is part of a series which debunks myths pertinent to laissez-faire capitalism. Many points not addressed in this video can be found at the above link.

http://Beingism.org

Unfortunately, the absence of some values makes survival and happiness significantly less likely. In any culture, simple coexistence requires a certain amount of agreement on values (e.g. "don't kill" or "don't steal" at the very least), as well as a value-based system for handling instances where individuals violate these rules. This even more the case in a global culture in which the lives of all people are entwined to some degree regardless of location or culture, due to advanced technologies and complicated sociopolitical systems.

It is important to remember as well that whether we teach people consciously or simply allow them to absorb ideas from the culture at large, they are going to learn values. We might hope that parents teach their children positive values, but the simple fact is that parents are only capable of doing this if they themselves have learned such values. This means that many children never have the chance to learn the values they need to survive and be happy, and children growing up under such conditions are unlikely to know how to teach positive values to their own children, perpetuating an unending cycle.

Of course, even excellent parents are often unable to prevent other forces from teaching dangerous values to their children. Perhaps the most pervasive and obvious examples of this are market forces. Increasingly in our own society (and much more so under unregulated capitalism), people experience a nearly constant assault of often-destructive ideas. Unchecked market forces will happily teach children to smoke, eat large quantities of cheap unhealthy food, and grow up to purchase homes they cannot possibly afford. People living in capitalist systems tend to absorb the value that immediate gratification is more important than taking care of one's physical or mental health, and that one's personal value is based on one's ability to collect material things or to be attractive by certain standards. As people find it increasingly difficult to satisfy their desires and find happiness, it seems a small comfort that the government did not intervene.

Given that we need values and that it takes more than simply one or two people to teach them, then, it would behoove us to those values that enhance our ability to survive and prosper rather than those that result in more suffering. This means teaching values which are demonstrably based in reality and that consider the well being of all people. For instance:

• Self-esteem
• Survival skills (e.g. math and language skills)
• Ability to cooperate with others
• Ability to delay gratification
• Civic responsibility (e.g. history, politics)
• Career options
• Career skills
• Tolerance, respect, and compassion for others
• Self-awareness

Everyone benefits from a society where people know how to take care of themselves, where everyone is able to find a meaningful career, and where everyone knows how to be compassionate.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• capitalism
• charity
• compassion
• conservative
• economics
• empathy
• happiness
• libertarian
• reason
• religion
• republican
• socialism

[GoingGoingGalt]

This is a bit of a straw man. No one ever claimed it was wrong, its just you can't force people to hold up values outside of the principle that you can physically harm others.

[Beingism]

@GoingGoingGalt What you've identified here is a semantic difference between our phrasings and issue framings and yours. If you were actually interested in understanding our viewpoint, you'd look past this to see the substance of the criticism, but of course, it's easier just to claim that because these differences exist our point of view is just a strawman. Sadly, this is a common tactic among the people who troll our videos.

[guidedmarkets]

@dubified89 I don't feel an interest in having a conversation about what trolling is, but I will say that what we'd like to achieve here is a place where folks can learn from each other. Comments that tear down our point of view without looking for commonalities aren't helpful, & I would prefer that people who only want to do that don't post. That said, we've been far from perfect about this also, & I intend to make a sincere effort to improve in our videos & posts in the future.

[dubified89]

@Beingism Wow so any disagreeing opinion is 'trolling' according to you, even if it's stated respectfully. So much for respecting dissent.