“Values” is often a codeword in politics for a specific kind of values – “family values,” “American values,” – which in turn pretty much just means “whatever conservatives believe.” So the word has some stink on it. I’ve run into that when I’ve tried to explain this before.

But I think it’s important for people to understand: it’s impossible to participate in politics without having some kind of values, because fundamentally, values are the only reason to want anything.

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Science can tell us “measles causes suffering and death” and “the MMR vaccine prevents measles,” and logic can synthesize those into “the MMR vaccine reduces suffering and death,” but, strictly speaking, neither of them can say “you should get an MMR vaccine.” At some point, once all facts have been presented, you have to step forward as a human being and say “I think death and suffering are bad and should be minimized” for no reason except that it seems self-evident. That’s a value.

Values are the things you ultimately want, the goal of your goals. If “the government shouldn’t spy on people” is your goal, privacy is your value. If “everyone should have enough to eat” is your goal, it might be based in a value of public welfare or equity. The value is the part of a “should” argument that can’t be reduced any further. If someone asks you “why shouldn’t we torture people?”, you can say “because it causes suffering without benefit”; but if they ask “and why is that bad”, then you’re down to a values discussion.

Everyone who has opinions has values. Even if their opinion is “whatever’s best for me personally, fuck everyone else,” their value is personal benefit. There is no way to say one state of the world is better than another without referring to values.

And I think it’s important to understand this because it really underlines the limitations of Facts And Logic when it comes to political decision-making. Facts and logic can inform you about what your result will be, but the only way to decide whether you want that result is through your irrational animal emotions. That isn’t you failing as a debater. This is where you have to end up. Why do I think joy is better than misery? I just do.

Values aren’t innate or static; people can change what they value. But it will always be an emotional process because it can’t be a rational one. There’s no way to decide if you should care more about your country or your family based on logic alone; logic can help you explore the consequences but only emotion can answer a “should.”

So this is my Irrationalist Manifesto. This is my call to admit, and be proud of, the fact that you want things because you feel they are good. This is my reminder that there is no such thing as a politics purely guided by science and reason. This is why I want my politics to always grow upward from “people should be happy and safe” to ideology instead of downward from ideology to justifications. Because there’s always a part of your beliefs you can’t defend on any basis other than “because this is what I care about,” and that is the most important part.