When it comes to values, the issue is not entirely about the values we claim to have but whether we are willing to live our values. Only by living our values can we be effective in our responsibilities of Youth Stewardship and beyond. Many would argue that the realities of life make it difficult to live our values. There is truth to this. But, there are ways of improving our chances!!!

– Ways to avert the emergence of situations where we cannot live our values;
– Ways to strengthen our resolve in the face of diverse pressures;
– Ways to avoid a repeat of past mistakes;
– Ways to systematically weaken the influence of militating factors;
– Ways to guarantee that we continue to improve our ability to live our values.

My aim in this article is to motivate the relentless search for ways. For if no way is found, then the status quo will endure. There are ways! I discuss 7 ways to invest in our ability to live our values

Prepare for the Best!
Mind Those Knowledge Gaps!
Do Not Adapt
Respect Your Own Rights!
Cultivate a Broad Perspective of Justice!
Beware of Tyranny!
Leave No Just Cause Untended!

–1–
PREPARE FOR THE BEST

Vested interests explain many of our persisting problems. And vested interests accumulate when we prepare to survive the present while neglecting to prepare for a better future (never mind building it)!!

Survival and preparedness (in this sense) are interconnected. What we are willing to do to survive determines the kind of future we are prepared to have. Not being aware of this, many have survived the present at the expense of the better future they desire. We need to consider where our interests will be vested because, that is the making of the future!

Our values tell us where our interests should be vested. And, living our values ensures that we actually make the necessary commitments.

So before we decide against our values, we should consider that our actions might leave us unable to earn a living legitimately, unable to practice our professions proficiently, unable to live free under the rule of law; in short, our actions might compromise our ability to thrive in the best of times.

Survive and prepare for the best. It is one way to create the future!

–2–
MIND THOSE KNOWLEDGE GAPS

Being unprepared for the best of things is not always the result of malicious intentions. A critical gap in our knowledge of what things ought to be and how to pursue them will undermine the progress of our endeavor, irrespective of our good intentions.

We should realize that there could be knowledge gaps anywhere! In our knowledge of our own history, and in our historical records; In the records of current events; In our social understanding; In the context of our professional training; In the context of our skills; In our knowledge of our rights and entitlements; ETC

Uninformed values, like uninformed decisions, often go awry. To make informed decisions, we have to work constantly towards bridging the knowledge gaps within our purview.

Our efforts to bridge knowledge gaps can include things like personal study, academic study, and formal investigations or assessments. But it also means paying attention to freedom of access to knowledge (aka information) and, to how available knowledge is used. Mind Those Knowledge gaps!!!!

–3–
DO NOT ADAPT!

Preserving our desire and ability to work for good is important. Without this, we become adapted to flawed or failed systems. Complete adaptation is an extreme however, resulting from complex factors as detailed in this article. And it may take a while to reach this point.

But no system is perfect. We are in a continuous race to avert a deterioration of our societies to the point where any extreme of adaptation becomes inevitable. And success in this race is the result of the right mindset and constructive action.

Having the right mindset means understanding the role of complicity, having a conscience, and having a sense of responsibility to wider society. But having the right mindset is not enough. The race is won if with the right mindset, we are motivated to do something constructive, no matter how small.

But note this: Not all actions are constructive! Constructive action is Informed, Useful, and Compelling.

—
Informed = based on reliable or verified information;
Useful = contributing to a positive outcome;
Compelling = Evident as the better course of action under the circumstance.
—

Doing something constructive, no matter how small, can make all the difference in the race against adaptation. We need to curtail the influence of flawed systems on our mindset, and on our will to act. Do Not Adapt!!!!

–4–
RESPECT YOUR OWN RIGHTS!

Our private lives and choices should not be subject to public scrutiny (unless you’re a public official). But the choices we make for ourselves, with respect to our own rights and entitlements, are often an indication of what we expect others to do or what we believe others have done.

Obviously, this is not always the case, but I believe having respect for our own individual rights is an important part of developing the social alertness needed to recognize and respect the rights of others. Whether and how we respect our own rights affects our sensitivity to each other’s rights and each other’s suffering when rights are infringed upon.

Needless to say, we are unlikely to find the courage to speak up regarding injustices in our wider communities if we have come to accept similar infringements when they affect us personally. Respect Your Own Rights!

–5–
CULTIVATE A BROAD PERSPECTIVE OF JUSTICE

Justice, like truth, is rarely glimpsed from one perspective or one individual’s experiences alone. Defending oneself against injustice, without regard for the problems others face, is never adequate, especially in the long term.

We need a wider perspective and a keen social alertness to recognize injustice, in all its shades, and to understand that it can pose a real threat to us, directly or indirectly.

I admire people who devote themselves to just causes for altruistic reasons. However, the fact is that fighting to defend one person from injustice can be a form of self-defense; defending against the likelihood of becoming a victim as well.

To live our values, we cannot afford to wait to become victims or witnesses of injustice ourselves. One victim & one incident is enough cause to do something. Whether we choose to dialogue, to protest, to organize, or to petition will depend on which option is most constructive.

The point is to seek ways to live our values not just as individuals but as members of a community. A threat to one may yet become a threat to all. Cultivate a Broad Perspective of Justice!

–6–
BEWARE OF TYRANNY!

By tyranny I mean any relationship or situation in which we are unable to act according to principle. Tyranny is notorious for making values irrelevant in decision making.

If you and I are to ensure that we can live our values, we must be sure that we can act according to our best judgment; i.e, judgement based on the points I mention in this article and much more. Our best judgement will be of no consequence if we allow ourselves to lose the power to act accordingly.

It is true that this will also depend on factors beyond our individual reach. But we have to do what we can to guarantee our own respective abilities to do what we know to be the right thing. Protecting our freedom to act as people of conscience is of great importance if we are to succeed at living our values. Beware of Tyranny!

–7–
LEAVE NO JUST CAUSE UNTENDED!

By ‘Untended Just Cause’ I mean any serious problem, issue, or crime, which is not getting the attention or treatment it warrants. Perhaps actions taken are not constructive; or actions are pursued inconsistently; or actions do not measure up to the need; or no action is taken whatsoever.

Sadly, the consequences of leaving a just cause untended can go beyond the cost paid in human suffering and lives destroyed. Untended Just Causes create perfect conditions for ‘tyranny’ to emerge!

The tyranny in the making could be that of a situation so uncontrollable that nothing (painless) can be done. Or, it could be the tyranny of an oppressor who grows bolder having escaped justice for too long. Or worse still, it could be the tyranny of a monstrous power created in a bid to match the enormity of a monstrous problem.

Whatever the case, the outcome could compromise our ability to live freely, according to our best judgement; according to our values. We must be mindful that small problems have been known to grow bigger; isolated cases have been known to gradually grow to affect the majority; and the conditions in which we lose the power to act on principle are sometimes the cumulative outcome of past inactions.

If you agree that we should ‘beware of tyranny’, then surely you see that we must be even more careful to create no tyrants in our midst! Leave No Just Cause Untended!!!!