Summary
- The Aspirational Values can be distilled as: ‘Be an Excellent Human’.
- They fall under three categories:
- High Character - truth, trust and virtue.
- Commit to truth: pursue truth, be honest.
- Build high levels of trust: honor your word.
- Virtue: do what’s right. Embody the 4 ancient virtues of Wisdom, Courage, Justice, Temperance.
- Respect - see the good in others.
- Commitment to think win/win: align self-interest with others for mutual benefit.
- Open-mindedness: have the humility and willingness to consider new or different ideas and improve one’s own.
- Tolerance: accept people’s differences in thought, action, and belief.
- Civility towards others: maintain goodwill, politeness, and respect, even in disagreement.
- Contribution - help others and better yourself.
- Voluntary/loving kindness: be caring and compassionate to others without expectations.
- Consistent self-improvement: aim high, fall short, do well. Setbacks are our teachers; the obstacle is the way. Inspire others by your example.
Definitions of the Nine Aspirational Values
- High Character - doing the right thing for the right reasons. This includes the 4 ancient virtues:
- Wisdom: prudent decision making, involving deliberation, discernment, foresight and decisiveness.
- Courage: the fortitude and resilience to face inevitable difficulties and do what’s right.
- Justice: committing to fairness by acting with integrity and giving others what is due to them.
- Temperance: balance in desires, emotions and actions. Self-control and moderation.
- Commitment to Thinking Win/Win - aligning our self-interest with the interests of others for mutual benefit. We should foster cooperation and long-term relationships to raise standards of living for all. This requires carefully listening to understand other people and their ways of thinking.
- Open-Mindedness - being willing to consider new or different ideas from our own. We all hold incorrect views. Without being fickle, we should seek to improve our ideas by listening to others.
- Tolerance - recognizing that people look, think, act, love and live differently. We should accept peaceful behaviour and beliefs, even when we personally disapprove of them. We should tolerate other people living however they choose, so long as they don't initiate non-consensual aggression.
- Voluntary Kindness - being caring, compassionate and generous to others in need, even when there is nothing tangible to gain. Forced kindness violates the Legal Principle, but being voluntarily kind, and inspiring others to be, helps create a peaceful world.
- Civility Towards Others - maintaining a dignified demeanour of friendship, politeness, goodwill, and respect toward others. We should choose calmness in the face of disagreement, not hold resentment and be non-judgmental. We should set a good example, even when others are uncivilized.
- A Commitment to Truth - pursuing knowledge about what is objectively true about nature and the universe.
- Building High Levels of Trust - honoring our word and fulfilling what we promise. Trust is the foundation of every human relationship. We should act in ways that inspire others to believe in our integrity and high character.
- Consistent Self-Improvement - recognising that no human is perfect, but bringing the best new version of ourselves forward. Every setback is an opportunity for growth. By taking responsibility for our mistakes, we can constructively learning from them through practice, diligence and dedication.
Commentary
The definition of ‘excellent’ is subjective, but these nine aspirational values are offered as an enthusiastic suggestion to align with humanity’s highest potential. You are free to reject them and tailor your own. However, we should remember that if our actions are not responsible, we strengthen the argument of those who seek to deny our freedom. Self-governance is what we would benefit from mastering; being free, but not wild.
The phrase ‘live and let live’ does not inform us how to live. Simply refraining from initiating aggression is the essential minimum for peaceful co-inhabitation. A path to peace must go beyond merely achieving freedom if it is to provide value to our lives and our global community. The nine aspirational values focus on the traits we can all adopt to best contribute to the vitality of this overall community. They do not touch on the meaning of life or spirituality, for these are beyond scope here, important as they are to many.
In contrast to the Legal Principle, the Moral Principle is not mandatory - understanding this distinction is critical to attaining peace in our local and global society. You are in charge of how you choose to live your life. A society cannot legislate virtuosity into existence. Competent adults do not all agree on morality, so attempts to enshrine morality into law just creates an endless struggle those who legitimately hold different moral values. Coercively imposing our morality on others is to forget that coercion itself is immoral; its a circular reference. Instead of coercion, a free society must rely on inspiring and persuading others to voluntarily adopt morality in their hearts and minds. Be an example for others to emulate. Don’t just advocate for the Live and Let Live Philosophy - live it!
‘Humanity’s collective excellence’, paraphrased as ‘the minimisation of human suffering’, is ultimately what Live and Let Live Movement seeks to achieve, with the Legal Principle of not aggressing being the mandatory bare minimum component.