Self-respect, control over environment and unpredictability appear consistent American values

The symbol of America and its core values

In 2010 researchers found that Americans value self-respect more than security.  But five years later, have attitudes changed, and what appear to be the most consistent American values?

While politicians and in pollsters stressed in 2010 is what Americans wanted at the time is that self respect and the interest in it was found to be steadily growing over the years.

The research was done at the University of Oregon found a sense of belonging and security had diminished over the past 30 years.  This was in spite of 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Towers.  But the focus on the research was on personal safety as much as anything.  The results were published in the Journal of Advertising Research at the time.  It was done in order to examine people's values and to understand them in order to target marketing campaigns.


"Research on advertising effectiveness has shown that advertisements that connect to people's core values are more effective than ones that don't," said Lynn R. Kahle, the Ehrman V. Giustina Professor of Marketing in the UO's Lundquist College of Business in her remarks related to the research. "If you keep questioning people on why they buy something, before very long you will get to a core social value. We find that understanding these core values is the basic reason that people buy certain brands of products."

Self-respect also was the most important value expressed by most of people in previous surveys. Since 1976, self-respect has risen from the top pick by 21.1 percent of all respondents to 28.8 percent in 2007. Also rising fast was "warm relationships with others," from 16.2 percent to 20.9 percent since 1976. And the popularity of "fun-enjoyment-excitement" more than doubled as a top choice, from 4.5 percent to 9.3 percent.

Security was the #1 worry in 1976, but in 2007 its social value had fallen to 12.4 percent.  That's because the emphasis of the research was on the security of material belongings and whether that identified someone's sense of self-worth.

"Security and sense of belonging decreased in importance since 1986," said the new study's lead author Eda Gurel-Atay, a doctoral student working with Kahle. "Security has been decreasing a lot in importance. We found this surprising because people were talking about security all the time, such as in relationship to 9/11 and economic issues as well as Hurricane Katrina. We found that people want respect for themselves and they want to be important to other people. Knowing this is important because, as marketers or advertisers, we can come up with strategies that are most usable to our audience and to our products."

Researchers say social media may have played a part in how people view themselves and their world.  It shows how a person feels internally is more and more important in comparison with material security.

The reason for the fluctuations in American values from time to time is another value University evaluations have found when looking at core values.  They actually value unpredictability in themselves, spontaneity, creativity, individual freedom to examine themselves and their world.  It is considered to be an ongoing value, although it may be expressed differently depending on the time when polls and surveys are taken.  In fact the #1 core value over time is considered to be personal control over one's environment.  It is considered very important that people take responsibility for his or her well-being within the context of where he or she lives and the conditions of the environment.  Americans see the value of man controlling nature rather than nature controlling man.

So while pollsters often survey American ideals and values from time to time, the individuality of one's beliefs, ideas and that environmental aspect of control, as well as the value of unpredictability may account for the fact that Americans may actually be hard to predict and why the politicians and pollsters try to make their surveys often.

Moral dilemmas in espionage, security create discussions about outsidethreats

Carol Forsloff--The recent news about government collection of data by phone and Internet of private citizens presents a moral dilemma that many security experts deal with regularly. The humanitarian principles involved in caring for others raises questions about the public's right to know vs national security. What are these moral dilemmas and what might be considered the proper balance between public disclosure of information and the protection of that same public from outside threats?

Dr. David Perry discusses these issues in an article published in 1995 entitled "Repugnant Philosophy: Ethics, Espionage and Covert Action." His thesis about the moral dilemmas in espionage provides a relevant platform to assess Edward Snowden's disclosure of government secrets involving the collection of data on ordinary Americans using telephone and Internet records.

Dr. Perry initiates his discussion by pointing out that ethical principles are seldom discussed in security circles but reminds us "whatever interests or rights that states can legitimately be said to have must derive from the interests and rights of their individual citizens." He goes on to explain what that means with reference to the rights of the individual and the rights of the state.

Those involved in espionage and security are taught to lie, deceive, manipulate, and hide information in order to do much of their work. But the goals of national security do not outweigh the moral values, Dr. Perry points out. He reminds us  that "those who have the authority to establish objectives for intelligence operations must not only weigh the ethical justification of those ends but must also raise ethical questions about the various means being considered to achieve them."

Snowden maintains he is a whistleblower, taking responsibility for alerting the public about what he considers to be unethical behavior on the part of the government through its ubiquitous surveillance of private citizens. Dr. Perry's contends that all individuals involved in security and espionage must face moral issues but does not promote the notion of the end justifies the means. In other words, stealing government records and bypassing the standard reporting methods would be questionable.

In the light of the present issue about the public need for transparency in its government and the government's role to protect the security of its citizens, ethical considerations are paramount to any discussion. Perhaps Dr. Perry's advice to include these ethical discussions as part of training at all levels in security and intelligence work might prevent another tragic situation presented by Snowden's disclosures that could significantly impact US security.

Op-ed: Will man ever achieve peace and security?

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Kevin Jess - Most opinion pieces have to do with politics, but in the world of faith there are opinions also about the state of the world that give a view apart from all of that.  I believe without examining alternatives to political answers we rob ourselves of ways to address our fears peacefully as opposed to the discourse of politics that frequently leads to strife.

Today there are almost 50 wars taking place around the world. Many of these conflicts are religious in nature, but  they are also being fought due to a need for resources or simply out of greed and a lust forcurs power.

We are inundated daily with pictures of terrorism and whether we admit it or not, we can't help but conjure up pictures in our mind of what a terrorist looks like.

Recently, small Pacific island nations called upon the United Nations to create a peace keeping force to deal with conflicts that may arise due to climate change. Many of these nations are facing rising sea levels that threaten to engulf their land, possibly forcing migrations.

Climate change is already causing extreme weather and droughts, bringing about crop failures which in turn could cause conflicts we haven't realized yet.

These wars are using up valuable resources, causing poverty and extreme suffering for many. Hunger is spreading and recently in Somalia, millions of people are facing starvation on a scale previously unheard of.

 

As long as any of us can remember governments, non profit organizations, religious organizations and even individuals have worked to end conflict, hunger, and suffering of all kinds but it never seems to be enough and soon it rears it's ugly head yet again, except the numbers affected seem to be more and more. The United Nations even has a section on their website devoted to 'Peace and Security' telling us 'It's your world'.

Many people today live a wonderful lifestyle, a lifestyle never before seen in all of history. Medical advances, higher crop yields, housing, disposable incomes and easy transportation to name just a few have made life for many in this world seem like they are living in Paradise. Just comparing the white smiles of people today as compared to those you see in pictures only 30 years ago show you the advances we have made in dentistry alone.

I had a conversation with a woman while standing in line at the grocery store not long ago. As we were waiting, she was looking over the newspapers and magazines on the stand beside the chewing gum. She was well dressed, not your typical Walmart fare. Her shoes would have paid for my weeks groceries. I commented that there didn't seem to be a shortage of bad news. She agreed and stated 'those people are always fighting'.

I pursued the conversation a bit more and told the woman that I believed that someday we would all live in a paradise here on earth and there would be no more war or suffering of any kind.

She said that she believed we already did live in paradise. I couldn't believe her response so I pointed to an article on Afghanistan and asked her if the people who lived there or in Darfur would think we lived in paradise? She didn't wish to talk anymore.  Like many people it is difficult to talk about political solutions when there seem to be so few and the atmosphere of conversation so toxic.

On my way home I drove by the food bank and noticed about 20 cars and a line up of people to get less than a week's groceries. I wondered how the woman I was talking to would feel if or when she would be in that line up. How secure is she in her life? I couldn't guess. But I can say that I am not. I have had to stand in that line. I have had to worry about where my next meal is coming from, or whether my power would stay on or be shut off, or even if I would have a roof over my head as many do here in this country and around the world.

Judging by the fear we all recently witnessed when the United States government carried out a debate on how or if the debt ceiling should be raised showed us how insecure financially the whole world really is, no matter how great your wealth.

So will the world's governments eventually end war and suffering? Will they be able to bring about personal and financial security?

People seek answers in many ways.  For me my faith in God gives me information I use to console myself each day as bad things happen all over the world.  Each man or woman seeks answers for trouble in different ways, so here is the way for me.

As this is an opinion piece, my belief is in the Bible as the inspired word of God, I turn to the scriptures for answers to these questions. I do this not simply as wanting to know what awaits me but also as a comfort. A comfort not only for myself but for those around me, some that I know personally and for those in the world who are afraid today, those that are hungry, those who are suffering.

So how does the Bible answer these questions without going into too much detail? For me it tells us that man cannot rule himself. It doesn't work.  I find in this reference the evidence for my belief.   In Jeremiah 10:23 it states “It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” Therefore, man cannot bring an end to war and suffering, nor will he bring about financial and personal security on a worldwide scale. Yes, he can have some success here and there, but not worldwide.

But will world governments claim to achieve peace and security? For me and for others there is a belief that peace and security is on its way, even though we may not see the signs in the midst of our travail. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 it states, “Whenever it is that they are saying: “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape.”

It would appear that a group of nations will claim to have achieved this aim of peace and security. Some major world problem or problems will appear to have been solved, however, it will be short lived.

So where do I find comfort in this? It is because I know this is part of the process that ushers in God's Kingdom.   As a journalist I look for evidence to share about my subjects and discourse.  In this case, my evidence comes from my personal resource, that is used by millions of worshippers where Jesus Christ himself told us to pray for it to come. “Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matthew 6:10)

My opinion discusses my way.   The path you choose may be different.  But as we are all trying to make sense of the angry speech, the hungry and hurt children, and a world in turmoil I have found my answers in a path that leads to peace and security for everyone just ahead.    Politics is simply not enough.

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Editor's note:  Throughout this magazine the issues have been addressed through science and politics, but the view from faith about these same issues is approached through religious belief and therefore appropriate to include as an opinion piece on Sunday by this writer.