‘Making America strong again’ is an idea that has real meaning.  The strength of any nation or community depends on the diversity of knowledge, experience, and perspective that makes it so.  Sameness doesn’t fly.  A range of available resources and information is essential. 

While our strength as a nation has always been founded upon diversity, our differences have also been the source of contentiousness.  At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787, the American Founders were acutely aware of this inevitable dynamic.

Among our many differences, Americans are perhaps most challenged by a diversity of values.  And values are a very sensitive matter.

It is natural to think our personal values are normal, ethical, and unassailable.  They are so much a part of who we are that we rarely think about them.  We know how to behave without needing an explanation.  

But values actually differ far more commonly than most of us realize.  They are learned; they are not innate.

We learn our values early in life.  We absorb them from our families, our friends, our schooling.  They are gained from our social environment rather than our genetic biology. 

There are, of course, emotional traits that are uniquely human and which are shared by everyone. These include feelings of fear, anger, love, joy, sadness, shame, and the need to associate meaningfully with others.

All this aside, everyone has a unique set of personal values and traits which, while learned, we do not necessarily share with anyone else.

America is multi-layered and complex.  Ours is a nation populated almost entirely by immigrants, and even rural communities with no recent immigrants are home to diverse values.

Values are influenced by many things: By the geographic region in which we live, and by our ethnicity.  They are also influenced by one’s generation (which differs from that of our parents and grandparents), and certainly by social class, which may reflect one’s profession, place of employment, or educational experience.

The values we come in contact with rarely exist in harmony, and sometimes they do not do so even within ourselves.  Add to this the values of neighbors who are influenced by differing family roots, and one lives with a rich diversity of perspectives.

The strength in this diversity lies in the practical knowledge and lived experience that it makes available for problem-solving.  And this will become more important as needs and challenges grow.

Let’s be clear: We are not talking about virtues here.  Values and virtues are related, but they are not the same thing.  While values are as diverse as the environments that create them, virtues are transcendent, eternal, and unchangeable.

Virtues are prudent.  They are required by good order and our wish to engage successfully in good order.

The American Founders emphasized the importance of virtues, especially truthfulness, trustworthiness, patience, and responsibility.

Conversely, values are personal.  While many values are shared, a stable and prosperous future will require that we understand the difference between values and virtues. 

We live in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world.  We need dependable neighbors, and we are challenged to engage successfully with a variety of values. 

In authentic communities, differing values need to be understood and discussed openly. 

We need to learn how to benefit from a wealth of differences without compromising ourselves.  Are we willing and able to engage in the dialogue this requires?

None of us can know what we share—or how we differ—if we have avoided meaningful conversation.  Superficial observation invites unexamined assumptions.

Only a willingness to engage in honest and respectful dialogue can provide accurate information and open the door to understanding.

You might question whether understanding requires you to compromise yourself.  I do not think so.  Respecting the feelings of our neighbors does not require that we compromise our own values.  We are who we are. 

Still, authentic community calls for compassion, curious interest, collaboration.

Tom

Regular readers can look for the next post on or about August 1.

My forthcoming book, “Liberty and the American Idea,” is now in the hands of my publisher, and will be available soon.  The introduction and several sample chapters can be found at the top of the homepage.