The
transmission of value is a vital concern for those who wish to protect our future as well as to respect our past.
There are many kinds of value:
- cultural value, such as the spirit of a people, creativity, knowledge, history
- political assets, such as well-functioning and stable governments and institutions that serve the long-term interests of their citizens
- physical assets, such as food, building materials, and fuels, and especially the ecosystems that generate perpetual supplies of these
- ecological assets, including those lands that are culturally relevant, that support society through living space and the creation of physical assets, that preserve the diversity of life, and that sustain the long-term viability of the Earth for future generations
- eudaedalistic value, such as biological and cultural diversity
Actions that will help the transmission of value:
- younger people must have access to culturally valuable older people, both on a day to day basis, and also in contexts that help them absorb skills and racial memories
- younger people must have access to culturally vital locations that inspired our ancestors throughout time, including both natural and social locations
- the elimination of frivolous activities that are irrelevant for the transmission of value — activities (such as addictions, many kinds of passive media consumption, meaningless jobs, hobbies, or possessions, or other kinds of wasted time) that do not nourish the person, help them access the treasures of the past, nor allow them to pass treasures on to the future
This is part of three
pro-value ethics:
- the creation of value — created naturally as beings live, through biological process and individual creativity
- the protection of value — for example, in the context of cultural value, the importance of protecting culturally valuable locations, relics, and people
- the transmission of value — the aspect of giving those in the future access to valuable aspects from the past (such as the experience of valuable locations and learning from valuable people). Sometimes this is required for further creation of value, as those who are steeped in cultural value can create more of it. Sometimes it is required for the protection of value, since new culturally valuable people must grow to help balance out those who pass away. This has a third component, that future generations deserve to enjoy the valuable gifts from the past, and that the valuable past deserves to be enjoyed by the future.
