I’ve held the values that underpin this site my whole life, but I’ve not always been true to them.
Part of the impetus for starting this site was that realisation. Recognising that you’re not living in line with your own values isn’t easy.
For me this is particularly true, in relation to the environment, the services I use, and the things I consume. It’s nothing but hypocritical to criticise companies like Amazon for their business practices, working conditions and their environmental impact, and yet continue to use their services.
“I have written from the perspective that all people have equal intrinsic value as human beings.” Mike Berners-Lee
I haven’t been standing up for the things I believe in, and that didn’t make me feel good about myself. It’s an uncomfortable realisation in your early 60s. But I realised that it’s not too late to make a change. It wasn’t as much a decision as an unavoidable evolution. After all, we all want to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror.
It had never occurred to me to encapsulate that in writing until I read a section in the introduction to Mike Berners-Lee’s book, There is No Planet B. The section is titled, ‘What values underpin this book?’
Mike has captured how I feel so accurately that it seemed foolish for me to rehash it. However, I don’t feel it would be fair to repost the whole section verbatim, so I’ve edited it to the parts that particularly struck a note with me. I urge you to read the book for yourself.
Mike says, ‘”have written from the perspective that all people have equal intrinsic value as human beings. Rich, poor, black, white, American, European, African, Chinese, Syrian, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Atheist – everyone has the same intrinsic value.“
“To be very clear, the same principle of inherent equal value of all human beings is universal. It applies to all world leaders, purveyors of both real and fake news, tireless aid workers, left wingers, right wingers, billionaires, paupers, your own kids, other people’s kids and even the call centre employee who rings you when you are having dinner with your family to try to persuade you to sue for an accident that never even happened.“
“It means that while you might want good things for your own country, you don’t want that at the expense of other countries. If you want your country to be ‘great’ or even ‘great again’, you would be careful not to go about engineering that at the expense of any other country’s ‘greatness’.”
“It means that, when you go shopping, what you buy is not just the product itself but also a whole set of implications for everyone who was involved in producing it. This is the hidden stuff, almost entirely ignored by the advertising industry, which we need to find a way of tuning in to.“
I’d highly recommend There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years by Mike Berners-Lee (I have the updated edition). I originally borrowed it from the library, but it’s such an incredible resource, I’ve since ordered myself a copy.
Please don’t order it from Amazon. There is a range of alternatives on the website for the book.
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