we have the values of capitalism which are the values
of greed, lust, miserly, all negative values because they
don’t improve any systems be it the system of self or
the family system or the social system or the governmental
system………
but what if we ourselves don’t hold those negative values of
greed, lust, miserliness… and we are force into a economic
system that does value those values? how are we to exist
with our value system that is different then the expected
social values of our system, be it economic or otherwise…
let me give you another example, we have had culture’s
and political systems that have had clear and defined values…
an example of this is Sparta… the only values accepted
were military values… all training, all education and all values were
involving war and fighting and being militaristic and martial……
but what of the person, a man who felt different values… a person
who thought that his personal values were of the scholar or of learning?
how would that person fare in a martial society like Sparta?
we have a clash of personal values and societal values………
what of the man today who doesn’t value the economic values
of our current society… what of the man who values/believes
in personal values of sharing, compassion, equality… in other
words, a man who values are communistic…… that is in direct
conflict with the values of modern society…….
how do we resolve this conflict of values? we ask, what
would Sparta do to a man whose values were different from
the Martial values of society? most likely either execute him
or banish him……………we don’t do either but we do
punish him in other ways…….we call him Liberal in a pejorative
way or we call him a communist also in a disparaging way or
we simply isolate or neglect him……………
and for the human being, a social creature, isolation is the
greatest punishment one can have…………
so society wants you to protect the system by
drafting you into the army… but your values are
peaceful, pacifistic, non- violent……. must you serve
in an army that expects you to kill when your own personal
values are against killing?
we see this clash of values every day, where the personal
values clash with the social values of the society or the state………
when one’s personal values are in conflict with society values,
we have another example of alienation………… how do we resolve
these conflict of values between the individual and the state/society/culture?
which leads us to a second question, should we hold our own personal
values even to the point of death? how strongly should we hold our
personal values… should we hold those personal values even to the point
of being punished by the state…………
we read in history books of the long battle between the values
of the Roman Empire and the values of the Christians………
we see that for over 200 years, the state did battle over this question
of values with individuals to the point of the state executing those whose
values are different then the state………………… this battle of values is not
just an ancient one……… we have wars over different value systems
such as the Nazi’s and the west value system which was decided by
World War 2………….
and we see this continuation of the battle in values in the ongoing clash
of the neo-nazi’s and forces of the left doing battle in places like
Charlottesville and Berkley………………. so we have not only the battle
of values involving the state and the individual but within groups of
individuals………………… and once again, how do we resolve this?
upon what principle can we all agree upon that will limit these
clashes of values that happen with great regularity………
and to continue this thought, we have elections that are simple
peaceful examples of the battle of values………. we have contested
elections because we have contested values…………… and how are
we going to resolve this conflict?
Kropotkin