Why Values Are Changing

“What matters most in life?”

That question was posed to 50,000 people in 60 countries. The Gallup pollsters report that the most frequent response from nearly every part of the world was “to have a happy family life” and “good health.”

AT FIRST glance, it would seem that people around the globe share a noble set of values. Yet, the picture is not quite so rosy. In times past, people’s values were based upon traditional religious and moral principles. Things are changing fast, however. Researcher Marisa Ferrari Occhionero says regarding Italy: “The young manifest values that are less and less influenced by parental, traditional and religious influences.” The same can be said of people​—both young and old—​all over the world.

Professor Ronald Inglehart, coordinator of a research project called the World Values Survey, says: “A growing body of evidence indicates that deep-rooted changes in world views are taking place.” What is driving such changes? Inglehart claims: “These changes reflect economic and technological changes.”

The Gallup survey, for example, revealed that in affluent lands employment was “rated quite low” among the things that mattered most in life. But in developing lands, having a job ranked as high as number one! Yes, when people are poor, day-to-day survival takes priority. As countries develop economically, people then give priority to such things as health, happy family life, and self-expression.

Because of technological advancement, these emerging values are sure to impact developing lands. The magazine The Futurist observes: “Our beliefs and values are shaped by what we see and hear.” The mass media have thus had an enormous impact on Western values. Says The Futurist: “These media are achieving global reach.”

What changes are we therefore seeing in attitudes and behavior? How are these changing values affecting you and your family?

Are Values on the Decline?

AMONG the greatest gifts parents can give to their children are unconditional love and a set of values that the parents live by and do not just lecture about.

Without proper values, life is little more than a crude struggle for survival. Values give meaning to life. They establish priorities. They set moral boundaries and define rules of behavior.

Even so, many traditional values are changing rapidly. For example, Professor Ronald Inglehart says that “society is moving toward sexual norms that give wider latitude for individual sexual gratification and individual self-expression.” A 1997 Gallup survey in 16 countries asked residents for their stand on the morality of out-of-wedlock births. Reports Gallup: “Acceptance of this modern lifestyle trend ranges from 90% or more in parts of Western Europe to under 15% in Singapore and India.”

Some have praised this new sexual freedom. However, The Rise of Government and the Decline of Morality, by James A. Dorn, cites “the prevalence of out-of-wedlock births” and “the breakup of families” as “obvious signs of moral decay.”

Other Deteriorating Values

Other long-held values have also suffered a notable decline. The World Values Survey, headed by Professor Inglehart, reports a “declining respect for authority” in industrialized lands.

Another traditional value has been a strong work ethic. However, there is evidence that this too is suffering a decline. In the United States, the National Federation of Independent Business surveyed over half a million employers. “Thirty-one percent of those polled said that filling job openings was hard, and 21 percent said the quality of labor was generally poor.” One employer says: “It’s getting harder to find workers who come to work for more than one day, on time, and sober.”

Economic forces may drive this downward trend. As profits dwindle, employers lay off workers or cut certain benefits. Says the journal Ethics & Behavior: “Workers experiencing this lack of loyalty and commitment begin to exhibit corresponding negative behavior toward their employers. The commitment to work hard is absent because tomorrow the worker might not be employed.”

Still another area in which values have declined noticeably is manners and civility. A survey in Australia concluded: “Over 87.7% of employees reported [that] bad manners in the office are affecting staff morale.” In a U.S. survey of business professionals, “eighty percent of respondents reported an increase in rudeness in business.” According to the CNN news agency, “poor customer service has become so rampant that nearly half of those surveyed said they have walked out of a store in the past year because of it. Half said they often see people talking on cellular telephones in a loud or annoying manner. And six drivers in 10 said they regularly see other people driving aggressively or recklessly.”

How Valuable Is Human Life?

In some cases, people say that they have embraced certain “values,” but their words do not necessarily translate into action. For example, the Institute for Global Ethics polled representatives from 40 countries. Forty percent chose “reverence for life” as being among the top five “most important” values.a

However, what happens in actual practice? Industrialized nations certainly have the resources to eliminate much human suffering. But a book written by Carol Bellamy, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, noted in 1998 that malnutrition “plays a role in more than half of the nearly 12 million deaths each year of children under five in developing countries, a proportion unmatched since the Black Death ravaged Europe in the 14th century.” Such reports are alarming to anyone who cherishes human life. “Yet,” observes Bellamy, “the worldwide crisis of malnutrition has stirred little public alarm, despite substantial and growing scientific evidence of the danger. More attention is lavished on the gyrations of world stock markets than on malnutrition’s vast destructive potential​—or on the equally powerful benefits of sound nutrition.”

A curiously skewed view of life is evident in the medical community. As recently as the early 1970’s, a baby born after just 23 weeks in the womb had almost no chance of survival. Today, perhaps up to 40 percent of such premature babies can survive. In view of this, how ironic it is that worldwide an estimated 40 to 60 million abortions occur every year! The majority of these abortions are performed on fetuses just weeks younger than the premature infants doctors struggle to keep alive! Does not the above suggest that great moral confusion prevails?

Needed​—A Moral Compass

When asked, “What matters least in life?” the majority of those polled by the Gallup organization chose “being faithful to my religion” as one of the two least important things. Not surprisingly, then, church attendance continues to decline. Professor Inglehart suggests that the prosperity of Western lands has “produced an unprecedented sense of security” and that “this has diminished the need for the reassurance that religion traditionally provided.”

Declining confidence in organized religion is paralleled by a loss of confidence in the Bible. In one international survey, respondents were asked whom or what they relied upon when it came to knowing what is morally right. The vast majority cited personal experience. “God’s word was a very distant second,” says the survey report.

Little wonder that values are changing for the worse! A lack of a moral compass, along with an increasing emphasis on materialistic goals and selfish individualism, has promoted a culture of greed and indifference to the feelings of others. What important things have been lost as a result of these changes?

[Footnote]

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Family breakups, poor work ethics, and unruly behavior characterize today’s declining values

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Millions of babies, just a few weeks younger than this premature infant, are aborted every year

Changed Values​—Do You Feel the Loss?

“WHAT is the most important problem facing the country?” When asked this question, the majority of people surveyed in the United States identified family and moral decline at or near the top of the list of their concerns. In this, they are not alone.

For example, the Paris daily International Herald Tribune noted: “There is a palpable yearning, especially among the young, for some kind of unifying vision, a set of acknowledged ideals with which to address and tame the mechanics of greed, of selfishness, of loss of community, which seem to be taking over the world. . . . This mounting debate about the need for a global ethic is an admission that something is missing.”

Do you feel that governments and world leaders, including business leaders, have the values needed to lead us to a happier, safer, more secure future? Do you feel a sense of loss, at least to some extent, as a result of the changing values you see around you?

One matter of deep concern may be your personal safety. Do you live in an area where it is safe to leave your home unlocked? Do you feel comfortable walking the streets of your neighborhood at night? If you have the good fortune of living in an area that is free of outright warfare, ethnic unrest, or deadly gang warfare, you may still fear being the victim of assault, mugging, home invasion, or theft. This can understandably cause feelings of distress and a sense of loss.

In addition to this, you may have lost​—at least to some extent—​the sense of trust in others that you once had. Through experience, perhaps both professionally and personally, you may have encountered an increasing tendency for individuals to do you wrong if it furthers their own interests, even marginally.

Government Example Needed

Throughout history, there has been an acknowledged close link between the personal values a society embodies and the values manifested by its government. Calvin Coolidge, who later served as president of the United States, said: “Men speak of natural rights, but I challenge any one to show where in nature any rights ever existed or were recognized until there was established for their declaration and protection a duly promulgated body of corresponding laws.”

In the final analysis, it is the ruling government​—no matter by what means it came into power—​that can promote or hinder civil rights, such as free press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom to speak out in public, to be free from unlawful arrest or harassment, and to obtain a fair trial.

Abraham Lincoln, who later served as president of the United States, once said: “The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves​—in their separate, and individual capacities.” When governments work to meet such lofty purposes, people are inclined to trust those in power.

However, cynicism and wariness seem to have replaced such confidence and trust today. One recent study in the United States reported that 68 percent of those surveyed judged the ethical practices of federal officials to be only fair or even poor. In many countries the public perception of government officials has been rocked by bribery scandals and corruption at the highest levels. Understandably, this has resulted in a sense of loss in growing numbers of people.

King Solomon’s Good Example

One ancient example illustrates just how much impact the values of those governing can have. King Solomon ruled over the 12 tribes of Israel from 1037 to 998 B.C.E. His father, King David, had been one of Israel’s outstanding kings. The Bible depicts David as a lover of truth and righteousness and, above all, as a man with implicit trust and confidence in his God, Jehovah. David taught Solomon the same values.

Almighty God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said to him: “Ask! What shall I give you?” (2 Chronicles 1:7) Instead of asking for great wealth, personal glory, or political victories, Solomon revealed the values he held dear by requesting a wise, understanding, and obedient heart, so that he could provide good government for the nation of Israel.

How did the rule of Solomon affect the people? God blessed him with wisdom, glory, and personal wealth​—as long as he remained true to the nation’s spiritual values. Archaeological findings attest to the material prosperity of Solomon’s reign. The book The Archaeology of the Land of Israel states: “The wealth that flowed into the royal court from all directions, and the flourishing commerce . . . brought about a rapid and noticeable revolution in every aspect of material culture.”

Yes, Solomon’s good government brought peace, security, and happiness to his subjects. “Judah and Israel continued to dwell in security, everyone under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.”​—1 Kings 4:20, 25.

King Solomon’s Bad Example

Unhappily, however, like the values of so many leaders today, Solomon’s values eventually changed. The Bible account reads: “He came to have seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives gradually inclined his heart. And it came about in the time of Solomon’s growing old that his wives themselves had inclined his heart to follow other gods; and his heart did not prove to be complete with Jehovah his God like the heart of David his father.”​—1 Kings 11:3, 4.

What effect did King Solomon’s changed values have on his people? In spite of his great ability and wisdom, Solomon became an oppressive ruler during the latter part of his reign. The high costs of his government caused an excessive drain on the nation’s economy. The work force became discontented. Political rivals resisted the king and sought to usurp his power. The nation lost much of its sense of cohesion. How ironic that Solomon himself wrote: “When the righteous become many, the people rejoice; but when anyone wicked bears rule, the people sigh.”​—Proverbs 29:2.

Shortly after Solomon’s death, political unrest and distrust led to a dividing of the nation and an ensuing period of hardship, disunity, and decline. The Israelites felt an overwhelming sense of loss. Their government had changed its values, forgetting the best interests of the people. The basic fault was that their leaders had ignored Jehovah and his laws. Thus, the entire nation suffered.

Widespread Lack of Trust Today

In government, business, and religious circles today, many have paid scant attention to maintaining high values. This, in turn, has produced a sense of loss in the minds and hearts of the population in general. More and more, governments and other leaders are unable to solve their countries’ basic problems.

For example, they have been unable to bring an end to war or to curb the rising costs of health care or the bad effects of the illicit drug trade. And there has also been a breakdown in educational systems. A number of governments even sponsor organized gambling. Many business and religious leaders have likewise proved to be a shocking disappointment because of their corrupt and immoral actions. Little wonder that there is widespread lack of trust in the integrity of those to whom people look for leadership.

Is it possible for any government to protect and even take the lead in upholding basic human rights and values? Yes, it is possible. Our concluding article will explain how.

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‘Greed, selfishness, and loss of community seem to be taking over the world.’​—INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

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When King Solomon obeyed God’s laws, he imparted high values to his subjects