Opposing the Values in Society Can Be Very Challenging: Here Are 3 Solutions
INTRODUCTION
In my prior article I commented on the challenges associated with living your own values that oppose that of society and its authority figures. This derived from another one of my early articles analyzing the approach that the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche developed on personal values. Nietzsche discussed the process by which a person goes through to eventually live their life and values the way that they see fit. During this process the individual must directly oppose society and authority figures, and these opposing actions are fraught with dangers.
This article will present some solutions to 3 main challenges with living your own values that oppose society and authority figures.
Opposing People in Society- To oppose the accepted values in your society you would come up against people in your society. These people could be teachers, government officials, parents, etc. The main challenge here is social pressure from your society. One solution could be to separate yourself as much as possible from the average person here. You could create a wide gulf between you and them and avoid harmful social conformity pressures. This also avoids all the pettiness in society.
Being Lonely and Alienated - By having opposing values and separating from society life could become very lonely and alienating. A solution to this would be to find companions in life who share similar values and beliefs as you. The companions could be friends, other people in society, or family members. Fellow companions could even be new people in life that you haven’t even met before and would be open to sharing similar value that you have. (I’ll further highlight this approach in an upcoming article)
Going Against Authority - If you oppose the values in society then you’re also opposing authority figures. Authority figures direct and control the way that people in society move, think, and operate. Authorities could be parents, teachers, priests, government leaders, etc. This makes having opposing values to that which is popular in society quite challenging.
To overcome this a person would need to be silent and concealed at times with what they value or believe in. This could include expressing the same values as authority figures in public, while in private living their own values.
Another solution could be living only some of your opposing values that would be frowned upon yet tolerated by society. Then your other values which might be publicly unacceptable could just be kept to yourself.
Lastly, you could get someone in an authority position who is sympathetic to your values and have them defend you. These sympathetic authority figures would be an ally and could protect you from other authority figures who aren’t sympathetic to your opposing values.
WHAT I HAVE CAME TO REALIZE
I came to an interesting realization when completing this thought experiment regarding the problems and solutions of living your own values that oppose society’s values. I have realized that to live your own values which oppose society’s values is much more difficult than it seems. For example, I think I’ve thought this topic through more so than most people would ever do. It took me some time to think through, and most people wouldn’t bother themselves with that much effort.
I think this is a major reason why most people don’t question the values in society. Instead, almost everyone just goes along to get along to avoid raising the ire of society and its authorities.
In fact, in a serendipitous moment I came to have empathy for the “average person.” The person who just mixes in with rest of the “herd,” or society, which is most humans. I asked myself, "how can I have contempt for the average person for not standing up to the overwhelming force of society and authority figures?” Well, I can’t. I’ve learned to accept the basic traits of humanity whether I agree with it or not.
This thought experiment allowed me to further empathize with and accept average people for who they really are.
References:
Nietzsche, Friedrich (1885). Thus Spake Zaratustra: A Book for All and None. Wordsworth Editions Limited.