Traditional values

The importance of values is critical to any discussion of poverty, crime, illegitimacy, drug abuse, riots, mental illness, or radicalism. People fall into these because they haven’t matured and developed solid values. When in teaching, politics, and social work, I saw most liberal values do a lot of damage.

Liberal values Traditional values               Psychology

• – Blame your folks ……………………….. responsible for yourself.
• – Traditional values caused today’s problems …… false
• – Permissive …………………………………………. firm.
• – Self expression & assertion whenever …… when appropriate
• – ‘Relationships’ are basic to progress ………….. false
• – Fires, floods, etc. require mental health teams …. false
• – ‘Recovery’ from these is painful …………. not necessarily
• – Getting fired is traumatic …………………… not necessarily
• – Flee stress and depression ……………. they are part of life
• – Problems are the result of wrong thinking …….. false
• – Feeling good comes 1st ……………………………… false
• – We’re all victims ……………………………………….. false

Education

• – Teachers’ 1st concern is those at the bottom of the class. ….. false
• – Education is the cure all ……………………………. false
• – Schools are the primary influence on kids …… families are
• – School should mean social success ………….. should prepare one for work
• – Society owes everyone a college education ……… false

Poverty

• – Society is wrong; the underdog is right ……. hardly
• – Poverty is unbearable ……………… false
• – Poverty is undignified ….. one’s dignity doesn’t depend on one’s income
• – Entitled to minimum standards ………. to what one earns
• – Menial work is undignified ………….. utterly false and isn’t ‘menial’
• – Help all of the poor ………….. help the deserving poor
• – Provide for them ……………… meet them 1/2 way

Misc.

• – Generation gap ……………………… not among the well adjusted
• – Venerate the young ……………….. they have their place
• – Adults must understand youth, not vice versa ……….. false
• – New ways and ideas are better ………. occasionally
• – Avoid problems ………………….. confront them
• – Self pity …………………………….. get on with life
• – The fast lane …………………….. prudence, moderation, wholesomeness
• – Instant gratification …………….. thrift, save, planning
• – Me first ……………………………………….. the golden rule
• – Equal opportunity means equal results ……… absurd
• – Life owes one a living ……………………… self reliance
• – The government owes one a living ……. self-reliance
• – Income and job security …………………… self reliance
• – Problems are ‘diseases’ ……………. false
• – People are not responsible for their behavior …….. utterly false
• – Rights ………………………………………… responsibilities
• – More rights for students, runaways, criminals, derelicts, mental patients, the poor, etc…….. ……… fewer
• – Everything is complex ……………. the principles involved are simple
• – A day’s pay ……………………………….. a day’s work
• – Business should provide more benefits ………… fewer
• – Only positives ……………………………….. false
  – Winning is everything ……………… false
  – Everyone wins ……………………….. false
  – School, work, etc. have to be fun …… false
  – Love is all you need ………………… false
  – Don’t forbid something or someone will try it. ……… laws are a fact of life
• – More tolerant of gambling, pornography ……. less tolerant
• – Tolerance of sexual explicitness is a sign of maturity ……… of poor taste
• – Titillation, lust …………………………. modesty, discretion
• – Never impose values ……………….. false
• – Lower standards for the disadvantaged ……….. that hurts them
• – Responsibility starts on top (the pol, soc, econ systems) …… at the bottom (the person, family, community)
• – Authority, discipline, and punishment are bad ………… false

Traditional values

Capitalism.

Less government – more privatization
Responsibility (the most important)
Foresight (thrift, saving, planning)
Self-reliance (not entitlement)
The golden rule (reliability, honesty, good faith, fairness, manners, respect for property, authority, elders, and ethnic groups)
Law and order, authority, discipline, punishment.
Family teamwork, hard work, diligence, moderation, restraint, whole someness, modesty, self-respect, one’s appearance, practical education, some censorship and conformity.

These became traditional because they worked. Responsibility is the most important and the one so much of our culture has been trying to duck since the mid-60s. Scratch a criminal, derelict, or addict and you’ll find irresponsibility. Scratch those wallowing in self-pity on daytime talk shows and you find irresponsibility. Scratch a socialist and you’ll find an idealistic ‘liberal’ taking responsibility from the individual and the family and putting it on the government.

As much damage as liberals have done, some of their values have been better:

• – More openness about public figures instead of putting them on a pedestal.
• – More openness about battered spouses, lgbt [lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals], addiction, child abuse, incest, abortion, euthanasia, impotence, single parenting, birth control, intermarriage.
• – More open-minded about premarital relations in responsible relationships.
• – More acceptance of ethnic diversity.
• – More acceptance of separation & divorce.
• – More rights for minorities, women, youth, the handicapped.
• – More questioning of religion.
• – Getting to the root of one’s problem instead of ‘keeping it all in.’