so we this collision between the state and the individual…
and that collision is because the values of the state are different
from the values of the individual, whatever those individual values are…
but let us look at the values of the state…
the state to be successful must enforce certain values upon its citizens…
obedience, sacrifice by the citizen, religion values, (whatever religion the state
allows) but how does the state pick its values? The state picks values that
ensure the state survival… those values deemed necessary for the state to
continue to survive, those are the values the state wants from its citizens…
so the state will allow some citizens the freedom to ignore those chosen
values of the state, those citizens are allowed that freedom because
of some value those citizens bring to the state, be it status or knowledge
or wealth or artistic value… but the vast majority of citizens are
expected and required to follow the values of the state… think of Sparta
and its martial state… citizens were required to follow those martial
values regardless of what the citizens has for values… the state comes first…
and we today, have the same process in place, we are expected to
follow the states values, regardless of our own personal values…
and this is the basis of the collision between the individual and the state
that we see quite often…think of the fact that homosexuality was
illegal in the United States until quite recently… that that homosexuals
loved and that love was considered illegal because it was love between
two males or two females… this conflict between the state
and its citizens has been resolved to some extent in the last few years…
but this conflict of values drive our current discourse…
think of liberals and their push for justice, which is equality between
people and the push by conservatives for security………… these values
have been in conflict for decades… or think of the so called “culture wars”
of the last 40 years… they are a battle of values… between conservative values
and liberal values…………think of abortion or voting rights or the
military budget, they are all a fight over different values,
played out over specific issues………
a budget is a moral document because it is about what values
the government has and those values are highlighted by
specific issues the government funds or defunds for that matter…
if we value old people, then we increase the funding for matters
involving old people, if we don’t value them, then we defund those
issues… simple as that…the priority of government and its values
are simply listed in the money spent on projects that the government
favors…….
and a look at the budget, our budget shows that we spend a
vast amount of money on military means, we have a martial
vision of the world, given the money being spent on the military……
this is a value decision about how we see the world……
the budget shows the values……. and social issues that are important
to liberals are not given very high priority and that is shown by
the very little money in the budget to social issues which are simply
values taken to specific issues……………if the budget shows
us our values, that those values are martial, which are values
about obedience and violence and hate……
those are the values of the United States and have been the values
of the United States for over 40 years………… if the United States
had true believe in the values of love, peace, hope, those values
would be in the budget, but they aren’t……
but what if as a person, I hold those value in opposition
to my state… what if I was a peaceful person in a martial state,
like the peaceful man in Sparta?
my values are in conflict with the values of the state……
how does this conflict get resolved?
Kropotkin