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In the last diary of this series, I presented the idea that labels are tricky elements. Labels carry not only your ideas, but those of others also seeking to leverage the label toward their own ends.In this piece, value judgements are the focus.
Let's get back to the "Nothing else matters but..." game for a moment. Take some time right now and ask yourself the question. If you could call the shots on just one thing, what would it be? If you find this difficult, choose a couple of things, but no more than that.
Done? Good. Let's move on.
For me, it comes down to speech. If we can all speak as freely as is practical (and trust me, nearly all speech is practical in a real free society), together we will see the truth and reach consensus where our collective best interests are concerned. Wrongs cannot see their proper remedy if no one knows about them. Finally, we cannot stand on the shoulders of those great people who came before us, if we are not free to know their minds and speak our own.
Rob just wrote a powerful piece that ties in perfectly with what I am trying to do here. His core point is story and it's power to convey ideas in a more approachable form. Bear with me for a moment while I digress with a little story about my own decision to speak...
[http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_060604_tap_the_power_of_sto.htm]
I'm new to politics actually. Even though it's been many long years since our highest court decided to select our president for us, I wake many days as if it were yesterday. What is happening? Why is the world changing despite the obvious wrongness of it all? Who will fix this?
For a time, I thought the power of speech would right this whole mess rather quickly, but it didn't happen. Eventually I came to understand that I had everything that matters to me to lose through fear and everything to gain and more through speech.
I don't live in fear. This is not about being foolish. We all have things to fear that are valid and healthy. However, fear is something that must be managed or it consumes us.
Speech is a scary thing, particularly on the Internet today where one's words tend to last far longer than we would often want them to. My first words, spoken here in this place we call cyberspace sometime in the early 90's, are still here for others to read. (and probably chuckle over actually!)
For every one of us that chooses to speak out, thousands choose to simply consume. Their lives are in our hands, while we are at the mercy of their judgement. Not exactly a balanced state of affairs, to say the least!
This is where the value judgement comes into play.
For me, by way of example, I fear the direction we are heading more than the fear associated with speaking out for reform. That's a value judgement, but here is the takeaway:
Anyone wanting to sell me on our current course has got to redefine that value judgement in their favor, otherwise I am not likely to see the merit in their position.
A classic example of this happens to be the wiretapping issue. Apparently a significant number of us value our personal safety over our personal liberty! Of course, if we yield our liberty, then we really have lost in the end, but that's another discussion...
I encourage you to try and understand where others value judgements fall. It's a key component to understanding how other parties think. If you don't know where they are coming from, it is very difficult to lead them someplace new.
