On Universal Values
In some countries, so-called universal values like democracy, freedom, and human rights are held as absolute good and nearly the only yardstick for measuring a government or country. I think there are good things about these ideas, but there are lots of other ideas that are also really good too: stability, economic growth, equality, empathy, tolerance, national unity, national security, etc. I want to hear some opinions on viewing universal values as the only yardstick versus viewing them as part of a basket of values that serve as a yardstick for judging governments and countries. I’m not interested in arguing for either viewpoint, just interested in hearing some interesting arguments :)
Foundational vs tertiary - you don’t have any of those other qualities without democracy, freedom, human rights, and protection of property rights (including national security).
What are universal values and how do they differ from fundamental human rights?
Value: people shouldn't kill people (there's a lot of asterisks on this around the world though) Human right: the right to life (again, some asterisks that vary with culture)
There arent any, apparently capital is the only universal yardstick
Anti-cannibalism is about as close to universal value you can get I think
When they can justify placing chips in our bodies, they can soon justify cannibalism too