The Art of Value

Paul Knutson is Rice County’s Assessor; his job is to go to each property in Rice County and declare how much value each property has. When asked what method he used to measure “value,” Paul responded, “What I do is not a science. It is an art. You might tell me that the house across the street from here is worth $100,000. But I’d tell you that it’s worth $150,000. Value is completely subjective.”

What does it mean, then, to value something? Does it affect who we are? Does it affect what we do? Even further – what relationship do my values have with yours, and how do we employ our own values within the constraints of society?

A value is such social ideal that it is hard to pin down. Some immediately think to politics, others to religion, and even others to family. The truth is that what we value is both an effect of and rooted in all of these things. It is a combination of all of our different life experiences that really shape our values. For this reason, two people might value something like “empathy,” but in reality, they mean two very different things. Putting it in an even more specific content, one might say that we all, as participants in this program, value social change. But of course, social change is a huge concept, and, based on our own experiences, the means and end for which we each act for social change are likely very different.

Of course, this brings to attention how we do act in our values. The reality is that it is very difficult for us to do so, for there exists a framework in society within which we must work. We all agree, generally, that we share values with the organizations we work with. It is for that reason that we chose to work there. However, we also see some issues from a completely different lens than they do. While we see our organization trying to achieve a certain end in a certain way, we might understand the situation so differently such that, if we were in charge, we would make completely different decisions. Of course, though, we aren’t in charge. That framework already exists. So, we are left with the choice of working within a system that we believe is imperfect, or we must decide to try to build a new structure or start a new organization, knowing that this new entity does not have nearly as many resources as the other. In this way, the method in which we express our values can be limited by the values of those around us.

Does this mean that, in order to express our values in any effective way, we must only operate within preexisting constructs? Not at all. Innovation is undoubtedly necessary as we move forward in creating social change. However, it is of the utmost importance to reflect on the realities around us while considering how we hold and enact our values before, while, and after we are doing so. As Paul Knutson said, this is not a science. It’s an art. To be most effective as artists of social change, we must wholly understand the subject, the object, and everything in between.