Currently, my wife and I are making our way through Mariposa de Barrio, the Telemundo telenovela now available on Netflix on the life of Mexican-American regional singing legend, Jenni Rivera. As I understand, it is largely based on her posthumous memoir, Unbreakable: My Story, My Way.

Values Have No Nationality (Los valores no tienen nacionalidad)
I forgot the precise scene where Jenni’s dad, Don Pedro Rivera said,

“Los valores no tienen nacionalidad” (values have no nationality).

As soon soon as I heard this, I immediately connected to it. I thought back to my childhood. While I don’t recall any definite moments during which my parents clearly spelled out their values, I learned a lot through their example.

Here are just a few of those indirect lessons:

• From both, I learned about treating everyone with respect, in the same way that I hoped to be treated.

• From my mom, I learned about kindness.

• From my dad, I learned about working at a high level of precision and with excellence.

I’m sure that I learned a lot more. However, looking at just these examples, I can’t help but think about how fundamental (a basic principle) these values are for many people. Couldn’t we agree on treating others with kindness and respect? Isn’t it good to do great work and not half-ass it? Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that these values are limited just to Mexicans or Mexican-Americans (like me). Is my suspicion right?

Who Has A Monopoly (On Values)?
In the past, I have heard of “American values” or “family values.” When I heard the line from Mariposa de Barrio, it made me think of these phrases. When certain people use these phrases, are they inferring that only their “values” are good or the best? Are they suggesting that they’re the only ones that have these values?

I feel that post-pandemic a lot of our “values” can be distilled to their most basic ideas. If we see a neighbor struggling with food, should we share with them? If we buy something online and it’s delivered, how about stepping out to thank the deliverypeople? When buying groceries, how about thanking the cashier for ringing up and bagging our purchases? If we get medical care or pick up our kids from school, how about thanking those people that care for us?

In my opinion, I feel that a lot about “values” can be reduced to one saying, “Treat others, as you wish to be treated.” Many of us may know it as “The Golden Rule.” Put in a different way, I can think of the Bible passage from Mark 12:31 that shares one of the two most important commandments to get into heaven, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” In different ways, both of these sayings say pretty much the same thing: take care of others. In the case of Mark 12:31, it adds the dimension of doing so out of a sense of love.

Now, not everyone does things out of love and that’s okay. However, I think that many people, at the very least, want to know that they can get help, when they need it. For me, I was raised to do good things for people because it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t hard to see how saying “please” and “thank you” often resulted in people (often without hesitation) doing what I asked. When I worked in the call center, I remember that it was much easier to handle phone calls, when people were nice and kind and understanding. After I left, I took that lesson and (though not always easy in the moment) try to be super nice to customer service reps, when I call. Who wouldn’t want to deal with a “nice” person over an absolute jerk?

American Values or Human Values?
I am of the opinion that we have a lot more in common than we may think. I like to think that we want to be treated well, respected and acknowledged rather than mistreated and ignored. I like to think that, if we needed help, someone would see us and step up to offer aid. I like to think that, if we were going through a rough patch someone would show us kindness. I think that, at work, we don’t want to clean up someone else’s mess just because they deliver substandard work.

My point here isn’t to slam “American values” or those that hold them. Instead, I am suggesting that they are more than just American and that others can, also, hold them. It is my strong belief that, by embracing these shared values, they will bring out the best in ourselves that we claim to hold dear. With some of the challenges that some still face, goodness knows that we need these human values now more than ever.

Rather than using these values as talking points at parties or by politicians, we should remember them and live them out, especially when it’s the most challenging. When we embrace these human values, we bring out our best. When we forget them, then we invite our worst qualities and we fail that essential spirit on which our country is supposed to be based. Speaking for me, I would rather be on the side of succeeding to hold up the most central of American values: taking care of human beings because I believe that they will take care of me.

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