Traditional values are good actually

Traditions are either about power, health, or love.

Traditions that are about power about reinforcing the power of the powerful (the British identity tied to pride in the monarchy, caste systems, male lineage inheritance, etc).

Traditions that are about love (holiday traditions, or wedding rituals, etc) are about building bonds and celebrating.

Traditions about health have been under threat by modern trend of deconstruction. Most of the time it is to the detriment of human flourishing.

Traditions of health

• Accepting and celebrating gender differences
• Celebrating what’s unique and good about one’s people
• Believing in a benevolent higher power
• Carving out time for rest
• Having kids and raising them well
• Men marrying (slightly) younger women
• Monogamy

These are all things that shape people in positive ways. They are time-tested ways to pass on wisdom that was developed over millennia about what helps people thrive.

1. Accepting and celebrating gender differences
   1. Helps people lean into their biological realities in a way that leads to a more fulfilling life.
2. Celebrating what’s unique and good about one’s people
   1. Helps people have a sense of belonging in their homeland and ideals to strive towards.
3. Believing in a benevolent higher power
   1. A sense of humility about our place in the universe, and a set of ideals to strive for that are good for people and the community.
4. Carving out time for rest
   1. True rest is necessary for people to live well. Time to recover, time to reflect, time to cultivate joy.
5. Having kids and raising them well
   1. Having children helps men mature, and helps women utilize the parts of themselves that they are biologically built to be best at.
   2. It also gives people a stake in improving the future.
6. Men marrying (slightly) younger women
   1. Men need to be able to provide and they need more time to grow up and be ready for a family.
   2. Younger women are more fertile and can be guided towards their truest most fulfilled self with the help of a wise and kind partner.
7. Monogamy
   1. Without monogamy, a few men end up with all the women. This creates the conditions where the less desirable men commit violence to get what they want.

Good traditions help us to cultivate a sense of purpose and peace, they help us build a fulfilling life, and they help us live in a positive society that can work together toward common goals.

Good traditions are good for you

In the Bible there’s a moment where Jesus is confronted for breaking the rules of the Sabbath. His response is “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” The rule God gave humanity to take time to rest wasn’t given because He likes the rule, it’s because rest is good for humans.

This is true about all good traditions. Good traditions are good for you and the people around you. If a tradition isn’t good for you then it’s likely more about power than it is about health or love.

Foolishly throwing out all traditions

Most often traditional values are being challenged today because they have elements that are used to oppress people (e.g. rigid gender roles, submitting to religious elites, etc), but they also have grains of truth that were necessary for society to flourish.

Rigid gender roles were used to justify abusing and silencing women. That isn't good for humanity. But accepting and celebrating gender roles is important for most people to build a life where they feel fulfilled in their relationships, and the world is safe for vulnerable people.

Modernism is right that we should interrogate traditions, but with the goal of extracting the elements that are good for us.

Modernism is wrong to throw traditions out entirely. We’re starting to see what happens when you throw out the wisdom of the past:

• Many women are waking up in their 40s realizing they wish they had children earlier and it’s becoming less possible for them. 
• Many men are anxious (and sometimes becoming violent) because they aren’t directing their strength towards good purposes. 
• People don’t carve out time for true rest and they’re burning out on repeat thinking that watching Netflix, eating comfort food, and sleeping more will restore them.

Make up your own mind

Don’t listen to me about what traditions are good: Listen to happy old people, they usually know a thing or two. Read ancient writers that write about living a good life. Their writing wouldn't have made it to modernity if not for people finding it useful for hundreds or thousands of years.

If you don't do the work yourself then you're likely letting the prevailing trend on TikTok or X to tell you "the truth." And if you pay attention, those people disagree with what they said not that long ago.

Make up your own mind.