Values

J. Donner brought up the issue of values.  I find values to be much more important than beliefs, but values are rarely discussed.  So I will list my values and I am curious to see how this compares to others here.  Here they are:

Trust/honesty - This means not lying to members of your group (CoAlpha in this case).  Your group includes your family if you have one.  This means that people can depend on you.  You can still cheat and lie to people outside your groups, but doing so often tends to corrupt one's integrity.

Action - Too many people just talk and never take action to pursue their goals.  I value action.

Cooperation - Most things worth doing can't be done by one man alone.  So by cooperation, I mean a willingness to work together towards common goals.

Those are my three.

Reliability - Keeping commitments.

Patience - A willingness to see other perspectives.

Responsibility - Accepting mistakes even when it's easier not to.

When I was younger, my personal ethic boiled down to this: "Self improvement is the only priority; honesty is merely the best way to achieve it."

Now, I believe firmly in the values of the Marine Corps. The big three are honor, courage, and commitment, but they encompass many ideas:

HONOR is the idea that Marines must possess the ultimate sense of gallantry... and embody responsibility to duty above self, including, but not limited to:
INTEGRITY: Demonstrating the highest standards of consistent adherence to right, legal, and ethical conduct
RESPONSIBILITY: Personally accepting the consequences for decisions and actions. Coaching right decisions of subordinates. A chain is only as strong as the weakest individual link, but a battalion of Marines is more like a cable. Together we are stronger than any individual strand, but one strand may hold us together in a crisis if it’s strong enough. One Marine taking responsibility for a crisis may save the day.
HONESTY: Telling the truth. Overt honesty in word and action and clarifying possible misunderstanding or misrepresentation caused by silence or inaction when you should speak up. Respecting other’s property and demonstrating fairness in all actions. Marines do not lie, cheat, or steal.
TRADITION: Demonstrating respect for the customs, courtesies, and traditions developed over many years for good reason, which produce a common Marine Corps history and identity. Respect for the heritage and traditions of others, especially those we encounter in duty around the world.

COURAGE is the moral, mental and physical strength to resist opposition, face danger, endure hardship, including, but not limited to:
SELF-DISCIPLINE: Marines hold themselves responsible for their own actions and others responsible for their actions. Marines are committed to maintaining physical, moral, and mental health, to fitness and exercise, and to life-long learning.
PATRIOTISM: Devotion to and defense of one’s country. The freely chosen, informed willingness to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
LOYALTY: Steady reliability to do one’s duty in service to the United States of America, the United States Marine Corps, one’s command, one’s fellow Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, citizens, oneself and to one's family.
VALOR: Boldness and determination in facing danger in battle, and the daily commitment to excellence and honesty in actions small and large.

COMMITMENT is the promise or pledge to complete a worthy goal by worthy means which requires identification with that goal and demonstrated actions to support that goal, including, but not limited to:
COMPETENCE: Maintaining, and improving one’s skill level to support the team. Commitment to growing toward a standard of excellence second to none.
TEAMWORK: Individual effort in support of other team members in accomplishing the team’s mission. Marines take care of their own. All worthwhile accomplishments are the result of team effort.
SELFLESSNESS: Marines take care of their subordinates, their families, their fellow Marines before themselves. The welfare of our country and our Corps is more important than our individual welfare.
CONCERN FOR PEOPLE: The Marine Corps is the custodian of this nation’s future, her young people. We exist to defend the nation, but just as importantly, we are in the business of creating honorable citizens. Everyone is of value, regardless of race, nation of origin, religion, or gender. Concern includes a commitment to improving the level of education, skill, self-esteem, and quality of life for Marines and their families. On the battlefield, a Marine is fiercest of all warriors and the most benevolent of conquerors.

Of course, some of these don't apply outside the service (parts about "defending the constitution" and so forth) but you get the idea.

Drealm wrote

Patience - A willingness to see other perspectives.

That's an odd definition of patience.  It seems more like open-mindedness.

The Marine Corps is a hierarchical organization, and some of what you wrote reflects that.  There is a big overlap between my "trust/honesty" and "HONOR".  But I wouldn't include "legal conduct" in my list since I have no loyalty to the government.  General honesty is a very tough one since this basically means that one can never be successful in business.  And with traditions, it depends on which traditions.

I value courage but wouldn't put in in my top 3.  I have no patriotism for my country, though I have no opposition to patriotism either.  I'm neutral on this, to each his own.  I would like to see patriotism/loyalty develop to CoAlpha, but that is a long way off.

"Commitment" overlaps with my "action" and "cooperation" and with Drealm's "reliability".  Many of these value words overlap and are hard to pin down.

That's why I said some of the specifics don't apply outside of the service. I think even if you just look at the top description of the values - Honor being "the idea that [someone] must possess the ultimate sense of gallantry... and embody responsibility to duty above self," Courage being "the moral, mental and physical strength to resist opposition, face danger, endure hardship," and Commitment being "the promise or pledge to complete a worthy goal by worthy means which requires identification with that goal and demonstrated actions to support that goal" - they form a solid basis for good conduct.

fschmidt wrote

That's an odd definition of patience.  It seems more like open-mindedness.

Maybe I should of said "hear other perspectives".

I'm very narrow minded.