Deeper into Consciousness and Value Systems
Consciousness may be defined in the perception of value — our ability to perceive the value of something, or to understand the concept of value and the value of something. However, we must also acknowledge that people value things differently. Different individuals value different things.
Value Systems and the Idea of God
To understand why someone values something, one needs to understand their psychological state. We may say, therefore, that an individual’s perception of the value of something is determined by their psychology, and that their psychology, in turn, is determined by their value system. Ultimately, an individual’s value system is determined by their core values, which essentially identify what they worship as “god.” In other words, when you understand a person’s core values, you understand how they perceive God — you understand what they worship, whether explicitly or unconsciously.
For instance, let’s consider the average 21st-century urban Wall Street businessman, or, perhaps, a somewhat stereotypical caricature of such a persona. Such an individual may be characterized as being fundamentally mercenary — one who sees everything as a business opportunity. They may be said to see value primarily in terms of how something may be exploited for the marketplace. We may understand their perception of the value of anything to be its commodity value, its transactional market value.
This perception of value on the part of this stereotypical businessman gives us a clue into the value system underpinning their psychology. It would appear that their value system fundamentally hinges on the worship and adulation of wealth, on the acquisition of material possessions. Going deeper into their motivations, however, what is it that they truly value? Perhaps it is income security? Or the power and control over the lives of others that wealth affords?
When one understands what a person values most deeply, one thereby comes to understand what they must fear most deeply, namely, the converse of their values. When you understand what someone worships as their god, you also understand what they must condemn and revile as the devil, namely, the converse.
Therefore, it follows that the stereotypical Wall Street businessman, who appears to value material security, comfort, and wealth above all else, very likely condemns poverty, lack, and inadequacy, which probably represents their deepest fear, their biggest insecurity. We can, thereby, infer that an individual’s greatest values are a reflection of their deepest insecurities and vice versa.
The Value System of the Modern Consumer
Most modern industrialists, therefore, appear to value the personal acquisition of material wealth and possessions as the highest good because it feeds their ego, greed, and deep-seated fears and insecurities associated with poverty and lack.
On the other hand, most modern urban people appear to derive their value systems from mass media and popular culture. They are typically indoctrinated, from birth, by television, music, movies, video games, advertising, etc. As such, most modern people are spoon-fed a value system based on mindless consumerism by the corporate system that largely controls mass media and popular culture. The highest good for the majority of us, as dictated to us by the oligarchical corporate establishment, is to be a good consumer and, thereby, enrich the corporate “overlords” who control and operate the establishment.
As mass consumer behavior supports and enriches the corporate societal structure, it is in the interest of modern corporations to direct and control the masses’ value system in ways that promote consumerism as a virtue. This is typically achieved through a mainstream media culture of fear and fear-mongering, designed to keep the public persistently on edge, in an unyielding state of “fight-or-flight” paranoia. Such a state of mind invariably lends itself to the behaviors associated with the mindless consumerism that enriches the corporate system — behaviors such as nervous addictions to junk food, cigarettes, alcohol, pharmaceuticals and drugs, adrenalized television binge-watching, etc. Such patterns of behavior and control are reminiscent of the “bread and circuses” of the Roman Empire.
Value Systems in Contrast
Most of us are, therefore, perpetually kept on edge by the daily struggle for survival and a mass media that relentlessly bombards us with fear-based messaging and propaganda. Together with a popular culture that feeds us with a steady stream of hackneyed stereotypes and inane narratives, they are seemingly all deliberately designed to promote a pattern of behavior associated with mindless consumerism. As such, we rarely find time to pause, reflect, and meditate on our true values and value system.
Consider the core, foundational values of the founding fathers of the United States, as enshrined in the US Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…
Jefferson, thomas, et al. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1776.
Consider, furthermore, these words from a speech given in 1854 by Chief Seattle of the Duwamish and Suquamish Native American tribes, which express his deep veneration for the sanctity of nature:
Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as they swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people, and the very dust upon which you now stand responds more lovingly to their footsteps than yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.
Chief Seattle. Authentic Text of Chief Seattle’s Treaty Oration, 1854.
If we contrast the values and sentiments expressed in these words with the modern corporate value system, the two appear in stark relief. The corporate value system is one that espouses and promotes relentless industrialization, the commodification of everything, including nature, life, animals, and even human beings, the promotion of mindless consumerism, and the destruction and exploitation of the environment — all to support the enrichment of the modern corporation and to feed the ego and fear of the modern corporate hegemony.
Which of these contrasting value systems aligns more closely with the values expressed in the Bible, for example? Which of these value systems aligns more closely with nature?
Occasionally, we need to take some time off from our busy schedules to meditate and reflect on our value systems — are they self-determined or are they, in fact, designed and fed to us by corporations through mass media and popular culture? Do they promote positive habits and behaviors, or do they, instead, drive us towards mindless, self-destructive consumerism? Do they improve the quality of our lives, or do they serve to enrich tech barons and corporate overlords at our expense?
What thoughtful, positive changes can we make to shift the balance of values in a direction that is more favorable to us, I wonder? One that is more closely aligned with our best interests, our personal welfare, and with nature? I think these are issues worth considering, particularly regarding value systems and how they define our lives.
