Values Series 4: People

  Welcome to this 4-part (minimum) series where I delve into the definitions and practical applications of my values list! 

My four top values in no particular order are: justice, peace, empathy, and people. How did I come to those four words in particular? I worked with my own coach! How do I feel about those words? Complicated as all hell! 

One thing I've learned is that words don't actually have the meaning assigned by the dictionary - they have the weight of all of our lived experiences behind them. You probably won't define these words as values the same way I will, and that's fine! More than that, that's wonderful! We might share words, but not definitions, or have the exact same values but call them wildly different things. Isn't the human experience beautifully varied?

Last (for now, and certainly not least) is: people.

People as a value? Aren't people just... people?

Yes. And no. 

I define the value of "people" as: the innate worth of all human beings and rights to those things that enable life to thrive.

In some ways, "people" is the ultimate value to me, the one from which all other values generate. Without it, all other values can be twisted to eliminate certain groups of humans, or prioritize others.

I hate to bring hate into a values discussion, but think about hate groups. They demonize and dehumanize others, drawing lines around those who are considered "people" and those who are not. Generalizations and stereotypes are often generated around groups of people as a shorthand for moral degeneracy or lack of worth tied to other characteristics. 

Under capitalism, worth as a human is often tied to productivity and labor, making it all too easy to throw someone under the metaphorical bus. Simply imply that they can't or won't produce sufficient value for other people, and boom. Subhuman.

How absolutely horrific is that?

This value has probably informed more of my political stance than all of my others put together. How could it not? When existence is politicized, living becomes a statement. Living happily and well? That's a protest verging on revolution.

If I believe that all human beings have basic rights to the resources needed to live, that means I must support food stamps and housing as baseline. Universal basic income is a given. Medicare for All.

I've probably lost some people by this point. That's okay. I'm not talking about the practicality of the situation, and I'm not saying these solutions are easy to implement. I'm saying that we as a society need to be working towards these programs if we want to put our money where our collective mouth is. We can't be afraid of words like "socialism," we need to face the reality of life and acknowledge the suffering that is outside of our own personal experiences. Do you really believe that someone's bank account should dictate whether they live or die? Yeah, me neither. And yet, and yet, and yet...

"People" is my value around which all of the others revolve. Justice cannot be attained if we are harming one group and forgoing reparations. Peace is impossible if violence against a subset of the population is acceptable. Empathy requires regard for others' humanity.

This particular essay got a little spicier than I envisioned when I started writing. It hits me where I live, personally and professionally. Too often, I hear clients purporting universal values and yet failing to give themselves the same basic consideration. I hear shame and judgement and negativity directed exclusively inwards.

You're part of "people."

The next time you feel compelled to divide humans into deserving and undeserving, ask yourself why. Who benefits? Who suffers? What are you justifying? Is it violence directed outwards or inwards?

I have a series coming soon about my own mental health journey, and the biggest mistake I made throughout, the most damage I did to myself, was considering myself subhuman. I put myself through internal torments that no one deserves, because I couldn't stop to consider that "no one" included me.

Don't do that.

Please.

You're worth so much more than that.

You're a person.

~Anneke