Are American "Values" Declining
All of my long life I have heard our "values" are declining. There have been certain periods when this stood out. One was the Vietnam War. Perhaps now with the polarization of politics and decline of churches it has risen to the top of concerns again.
Today's link pushes the same alarm button. It discusses a poll showing a decline in the public's interest in "community" and "patriotism." The poll shows, instead, an increase in importance of money. Whether this poll reflects changes is called into question be a response of only 4% of those offered agreed to take the poll. In previous years, when the same poll was done by telephones (instead of online) response rates were some 60%. It is believed widely lower response rates make results less random and more suspect.
I have a hard time concluding "values" are worse today than they were during the times of my parents or grandparents or even thousands of years ago. The discipline of economics makes a broad assumption about the motives of humans. It is that humans are constantly calculating their own self-interest. Adam Smith published his famous book in 1776, The Wealth of Nations. His message was that when all parts of society are pursuing their own interests the wealth and well-being of all of society rises. Religious leaders considered Smith an enemy. The wealth and well-being of a society comes from God, they said, and any other explanation is blasphemy.
Of course, even Smith's theory of self-interest needs some context. Nearly every human does good deeds that have no apparent or easily identified self-interest. Smith's concept was meant to be applied to societal systems of making decisions and the broad results. When an individual is making decisions about how to spend his/her money, how to make a living, how to spend his/her time, both professional and leisure, where to give away money, the most important variable guiding these decisions is self-interest.
The Vietnam War was an example where traditional values got off the track. Millions of young people did not see value in that war. They did not personally want to get killed for no value. This was decried at the time as being unpatriotic. It was not unpatriotic, it was simply self-interest. That self-interest helped end to a mistaken war.
I don't see a decline in our country's "values." Today there are conflicts in the self-interests of various groups in society. Some groups are more successful than others getting their way for a while and then it reverses. Hopefully, all of us pursuing self-interest will result in preserving the globe we all live on instead of destroying it.
you surprised me. a relatively balanced post re the obvious tensions between laissez faire economics and religion. religion as we know tends to a more altruistic view of the economic world. or between the Adamite world and socialism and its welfare state progeny. For as Nietzsche pointed out socialism is a leftover from Christianity (and is, therefore, an enemy of the Ubermench). clearly, then, the economic quarrels that lie at the root of these two competing views (broadly defined) are reflections of the Smithian vs. Marxist ideologies.
ReplyDeleteThis conflict, of course, is unfortunate, the source of much political acrimony (tho' at this point the Marxist view seems to be winning). Yet worse is when the economic self interest principle spills over into the ethical realm. when ethics becomes little more than it is "OK to act totally in what one perceives as one's own self-interest" (or as whatever makes one "feel good"). or as one wag put it, out with the Golden and Silver Rules and in with the Leaden Rule: do it to the other fellow before he does it to you. admittedly that is a little extreme: the Gand S rules, I think, are disguised versions of the self-interest rule. that, however, is a good topic for another time. another discussion. with that, wishes for a good atheistic easter.
tsm-- I return the compliment to you for a good post.
DeleteWhile self interest is a term we usually associate with soon anticipated profits, I think it is more accurately a broadly described concept. Some support for socialism must surely be self interest. They might see it as a system that will provide them with secure employment and, to them, that is more important than the opportunity a higher income from harder work and risk taking. This is an entirely different reason for socialism than religious or some idealistic version of a utopian society.
Then there is the search to ego or power that is a form of self interest. Perhaps there are Catholic and other clergy who are not wealthy and will gain no money from being against abortion. But some, I emphasize some, might enjoy the feeling of power over others that comes with anti-abortion politics.
I myself advocate that women decide on abortions. I cannot have an abortion but my
position has a element of self-interest. I believe my life will be better if all women, all races, etc. have equal opportunity. Same with gay marriage.
In all of this, it seems to me religious views and theology itself reflects in this broad sense the self interest of those who originally authored it and practice it today. The odd pitch that Christianity offers "life everlasting" is a flat out expression of narrow self interest and with a hand extended for the tithe.