Values for the 21st Century (Paperback) | Released: 17 Feb 2017

In 2016 moral values appear to have suffered a severe setback. Terrorists have killed adherents of the same faith, democratic politicians have denounced inclusiveness, and citizens have asserted their right to retreat into isolationism. What is happening? This work purports to place moral values in context, explain their relevance today, and present a shortlist of practices and practitioners in this regard. I do not claim to have definite solutions to the current values crisis, but hope to inspire some cross-cultural discussion. Obviously, culture, ethics and religion play a central part in forging a meaningful set of values. I concentrate on the big picture: universal, transcending values are the book's priority.Values matter; they can mean the difference between civilization's flourishing and its decline. At present, some countries are flouting their own principles of openness and violating legitimate refugees' right to asylum, including the United States. Most wealthy Middle Eastern countries that remain at peace have refused to accept any at all. Denial of need and rising sentiments of xenophobia indicate a moral crisis. Some countries have promulgated their own value sets, such as China's socialist values. Missing is a set of values that transcends national boundaries and religious divisions in the 21st century. This has become an important task. "Values for the 21st Century" introduces the concept in Chapter 1, and then explains why it is important. Chapter 3 explores how we form values, and chapter 4 lists some barriers to overcome in that endeavor. Chapters 5-9 present different sources of values: ethics, religion, law, free markets and technology, and the online community. Chapter 10 investigates perversions of values, including slavery, Nazism, the Cambodian genocide, and Rwanda in 1994. Chapter 11 introduces movements to safeguard them, such as critics of religious orthodoxy, the 19th century abolition movement, the 20th century non-aggression and peace movements, and the environmental movement. Chapter 12 lists a few champions of values, who provided inspiration and leadership, usually leading by example. Chapter 13 ventures to present a shortlist of universal values that may not be immediately obvious. Finally, the concluding chapter sums up the argument and contains some ideas on how to make values count.