Society is driven by norms and values. Values are the things that are believed to be important. They should determine priorities Members of society must have a general agreement on the matter of right and wrong, values, and morality in order to function properly. Understanding human values is a never-ending process. Values serve as standards to guide action and judgment. According to Williams (1979) values are complex and multifaceted “pre-coding’s” that are a result of learning fusions of “cognitive-conceptual with imperative elements” the determination of values is the result of mental processes, either instinctive or logical.
Instinct recognizes the value of food, clothes, and shelter. “Logical adopts established forms and limits consideration of values to someone or all these forms” (Understanding Human values., 1979) Values should be determined by the desire to be accomplished. “When the value of such things is emphasized the very qualities are developed in human beings searching for a way to gratify their desires” (William F. Fowler., (1935))
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” Ranking values in a form of a hierarchy, of importance, one must achieve the lower levels before moving onto the next level.
The most important is physiological such as food, water, shelter and sex. (Journal of Nursing Management, 2003). The next is safety needs (security), then belongingness and love, (need for belongingness, friendship and love.), then esteem, (feel competent, confident and self‐assured), and finally self-actualization. (‘be all that one can be’.
) Baldwin (1997) also put forth a hierarchical model of values which categories values in relations to their priority, as prime (first importance)., core (important)., and marginal (minor) (Concept of security., 1997)
Examples of Australian values include democracy, human rights, equal opportunity, and rule of law. Security is seen as a value in society. Wolfers (1952,) defines security as: “the absence of threats to acquired values, in an objective sense, and in a subjective sense, as “the absence of fear that such acquired values will be attacked”. The purpose of security in society is to maintain freedom and peace, protect citizens and assets of the society. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs expresses security as second in importance. Values are important to individuals and states however people hold many values and therefore necessitates the sacrifice of some values.
People hold many values; therefore, values must be traded according to hierarchical priorities. To help determine what values hold priority, Maslow’s and Baldwins theories can put the concept of trading values into perspective. Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs is placed in the form of most important to less important. This theory can be used when looking at the concept of trading values as the higher less important values at the top of the hierarchy could be traded in return of a lower more important value. Baldwin’s theory (1997) facilitates social trade-offs against the various values that enable society to function. Puts values into categories in order of priority. This theory can also be used in relation to trading values as your most prime value would take priority. Everyday values are being traded in order to prioritize other values. In recent times with the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals are trading substantial values for safety and wellbeing. Trading the values of freedom of movement, and freedom of choice for wellbeing.
As individuals now see health as a priority and more important than other values. (Coole & ABC news 2020) Security is valued by individuals, families and states. Security, however, is not the only thing they value; and the pursuit of security necessitates the sacrifice of other values. The concept of trading values can then come into play with the pursuit of security. The pursuit of security always involves costs, (The concept of security., 1997) Trading values doesn’t have to be an all or nothing concept, it can be gained or sacrificed to certain degrees. Security is about protecting its citizens and its assets of the society. In order to have security and to have that protection, certain values are needed to be traded to a certain degree. It is natural to give up some liberty in order to have security. Wolfers (1952) suggests “the sacrifice of other values for the sake of security inevitable”
In order to have protection, government/ countries need to be aware of certain aspects of the world and be able to watch, maintain, or remove threats. This would not be possible without certain intelligence being conducted such as SIGINT with the interception of signal data. Having certain data intercepted means there is a certain degree of the value of privacy being sacrificed due to phone calls, emails etc being analyzed. However, it could be considered more ethical to have less security in order to preserve some values such as privacy and individual freedoms. Citizens are not being watched constantly and individuals have the freedom to move freely and exercise their human rights. Therefore, Security is a value that must be balanced. Individuals have so many values that some must be traded especially in pursuit of security.
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