The mission

As a citizen of Ohio, I would be very interested in learning more, do you have site for this group?

Why not combine your statements to use family, but to qualify it as a progressive family? My suggestion below is a bit wordy, but provides you with a full gambit of suggestions, and perhaps you can tweak it based on your better understanding of the group.

3 - The mission of the Anywhere County Progressives is to promote a nuturing community based on sustainable political ideals and empathetic family values in Anywhere County, Ohio.

Nuturing, sustainable, empathy are all values and triggger words which I think will invoke ideas of a inclusive, environmentally concerned, caring group.

Two things I would note about the others "boldy live out" and your use of progressive.
Boldy live out is vague. Is it a lifestyle? A political group? etc.

In Number 3 you state your mission is progressive values. It is safe to assume this already based on your name, and your statement must give it a little more specificity.

The values in number 5 I would argue are values, but can be progressive or conservative. I.e. taxes are unfair, the death penalty is fair.

David,

Thanks for your insights.

I really like the Dr. Lakoff's 8th chapter of "Don't Think of An Elephant" entitled "What unites progressives?" I found an old dog eared copy this morning.

In that chapter Dr. Lakoff lays out what seems to me to be a prioritized flow chart for thinking things through in a progressive manner. The first section is short: Ideas that make us progressive.

+ "First, values coming out of a basic progressive vision
+ Second, principles that realize progressive values
+ Third, policy directions that fit the values and principles
+ And fourth, a brief ten-word philosophy that encapsulates all of the above"

"The Basic Progressive Vision - The basic progressive vision is of community - of America as family, a caring, responsible family. We envision an America where people care about each other, not just themselves, and act responsibly with strength and effectiveness for each other. We are all in the same boat. Red States and blue states, progressives and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats. United, as we were for a brief moment just after September 11, not divided by a despicable culture war."

(Forgive me for this long reply. I wish "Elephant" was on line and I could add a link. What comes next is a LIST of 15 progressive values and Dr. Lakoff's comments.)

"The Logic of Progressive Values - The progressive core values are family values - those of the responsible, caring family.

"CARING AND RESPONSIBILITY, CARRIED OUT WITH STRENGTH. The core values imply the full range of progressive values. Here are those progressive values, together with the logic that links them to the core values.

"PROTECTION, FULFILLMENT IN LIFE, FAIRNESS. When you care about someone, you want them to be protected from harm, you want their dreams to come ture, and you want them to be treated fairly.

"FREEDOM, OPPORTUNITY, PROSPERITY. There is no fullfillment without freedom, no freedom without opportunity, and no opportunity without prosperity.

"COMMUNITY, SERVICE, COOPERATION. Children are shaped by their communities. Responsibility requires serving and helping to shape your community. That requires cooperation.

"TRUST, HONESTY, OPEN COMMUNICATION. There is no cooperation without trust, no turst without honesty, and no coooperation without open communication.

"Just as these values follow from caring and responsibility, SO EVERY OTHER PROGRESSIVE VALUE FOLLOWS FROM THESE. (emphasis mine) Equaly follows from fairness, empathy is part of caring, diversity is from empathy and equality. Progressives not only share these values, but also share political principles that arise from these values."

*

I'll comment more on your insights. I have to run some errands. You asked, "Is it a lifestyle? A political group? etc." I would say you've picked up the inclusiveness that "boldly live out" was meant to describe. If we are going to create the "progressive movement" that Dr. Lakoff and others envisions, then we all must "boldly live out" progressive values in all aspects of our lives, not just political. The group is a chapter of a national political organization, so being political is a given. More later.

dunno if it helps, but I always like the word "village" (and the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child". It seems homier and more down to earth than "comunity". "Village values" has a nice ring.

Bluepilgrim, Thanks for your input. So what would your mission statement say? Thanks.

I understand your desire to use the word "family" and take it back from the the other groups. However, the word doesn't convey the meaning I think you want in the context of a brief mission statement. out of the context of the book where you have the two models of family the word itself is disconnected. I find it extremely noninclusive as many of my single friends have a red flag go up when someone frames something as a "family get-together" or family oriented. I don't think it gets to the heart of what you want to convey. as to the other comments here I don't like village either since our county is provincial enough; village just makes it sound worse.
  I applaud what you are trying to do; keep working at the wording. What is the essence of what you are trying to convey by the word "family"? JB

Hi, Prozakmama,

I am so happy you joined this conversation, since you are also a member of the Anywhere County Progressives. Perhaps we can get more of our local group to join this discussion.

Whether you are single or married, every person is a family member, i.e. a son or daughter. All communities or villages are made up of sons and daughters. Family is the primary metaphor as in "baseball, motherhood & apple pie;" or "founding fathers and mothers;" or "Daughters of the American Revolution."

I still like the second mission statement. The statement doesn't invite people to a family-get-together. The statement doesn't identify the organization as a family organization, i.e. that you have to be married, to be in the group. The statement identifies the core values of a progressive person, i.e. strength, empathy & responsibility and frames it within the context of a progressive family metaphor. The progressive family metaphor is also gender neutral.

Since much of the political, social and media language used today is framed within the context of the conservative family metaphor, progressives must understand our family metaphor, because we do have a progressive family metaphor that's peculiar to our progressive vision.

At least this is how I read the research. The "essence" you asked for is attempting to be faithful to the research, to trust the research.

My second choice is number 6. "The mission of Anywhere County Progressives is to promote progressive values in all aspects of life in Anywhere County, Ohio. Those values include : Empathy, Responsibility & Strength; Trust, Honesty, & Open Communication; Freedom, Opportunity & Prosperity; Community, Service & Cooperation: Protection, Fulfillment & Fairness." You may notice I've changed #6 & dropped "political arena." The reason for the second choice is that if the group insists it doesn't want to use the word "family," then all 15 values listed in chapter 8 of "Elephant" are listed in the flow chart priority. It just seems important to me.
 
Thanks, CW

There are a lot of reason to avoid using the word family in a mission statement for our group.

--The word family is an exclusionary word. It excludes anyone who does not identify themselves through family world-view.

--The word family has become twisted & abused through years of use as political rhetoric. Used in a political context it is associated with a myriad of motivations, ploys, and meanings simply because it has been pulled in so many directions by so many groups.

--When someone reads the word family, they might be inclined to think of their own family. Such thoughts might be extremely negative. To someone who might have experienced an abusive family, the word family would conjure up extremely negative emotions.

--The word family could easily make people who will never have children feel excluded.

--The word family is an emotionally charged word. It makes me uncomfortable to think about it. Especially in terms of politics. I do not want to promote such an uncomfortable word.

--The use of the word family in the mission statement assumes that all of the members of the group hold a family world view. For many people, this is simply not true. While Lakoff is correct that many people see politics through the lens of family, it is undeniable that many people do NOT see things that way.

--The word family has such a long history, that for us to claim it and attempt to change it in one swift motion would simply be impossible. If you want to take back the word family, start by removing the barriers to it.

--To me, the ultimate progressive value is inclusion. By assuming a dominant frame of family you exclude people who do not buy into that frame.

--Frankly, we are not a family group. Using the word family in a mission statement implies that we are about promoting a family unit. We are not about “a husband, a wife, and two kids.” However, someone reading the word ‘family’ in our mission statement could easily assume that.

jacob said it much better than I did. the word family does read exclusive to me and that is my main objective. thanks for improving on my idea and expressing it better jacob.
jb

I am also a member of the Anywhere happy hour. Nice to see the level of participation.

I am thinking,the use of the word "family" is probably due in large part to the two models that Dr.Lakoff describes in his books. The Strict Father model, and the Nurturing Family model. Even though the Strict Father model name does not include the word "family", it is implied. Having read the book "Moral Politics" by Lakoff, I can see the importance of family in the models.

I understand how a single parent, or a person living alone, without a spouse, might be sensitive to the word "family". Also, the "family values" issue created by some conservatives may leave a bad taste in our mouths.

So, what is the solution? Some suggestions were to use "village" or "community" instead of family. How about "fellowship"?

By the way, my favorite choice of the six given is number 6. Good job!

- Gabe

"The (Anywhere County Progressives) exist to carry the progressive agenda from the American grassroots to Congress to guide the development of progressive legislation, fight for its passage into law, and support the realization of progressive policies at the state and local levels."

Arianna,

Thank you so much for weighing in on this. At our weekly happy hour tonight someone raised the question of "why aren't we using our national organization's mission statement?" Afterall, we ARE a chapter of this national progressive political organization.

Therefore, I posted the mission statement above substituting our appropriately disguised name. I like it, especially because when I go to the website of the national site it lists the 15 values values listed in Dr. Lakoff's book, "Don't Think of an Elephant," chapter 8.

Arianna,

Today seems to be my day to disagree with you. Lest you take me for a total contrarian, I do agree with you about the Star Trek connotation. As a fan of the shows (not a "Trkkie" per se), I recognised the phrasing and smiled about it. But I agree it is a distraction at best and should therefore go.

Why I disagree with you about is giving up on the word family. I see that RockRidge has joined with many other groups and already given up on the word "liberal" as irretreivabley compromised. I was plesantly surpised the other night to meet a gentleman who unabashedly describes himself as "liberal". He reufused to give up on this word. It took conservatives a long time to trash the word. Perhaps we should consider that the tlongest journeys start with a single step. But I digress.

Everyone has a family. To allow only conservatives to claim the word family or the phrase family values is unthinkable to me. Last night I had the good fortune to be with two young men who ran for the State Senate in Florida this year. One was elected, the other not. When they met at this event last night, they were showing each other pictures of their children in the modern fashion - on their cell phones. Thew were not talking about the political issue of the day. They were talking about their children and family expansion plans.

The gentleman who lost his State Senate race ran in a much more conservative district against a well know darling of the wingnut conservatives. However, by running a campaign that focused on "his" family values, his faith and his views on serving our community, he came way closer than most people would have thought possible. Close enough that a rematch is not out of the question. Certainly this young fellow is going to get elected to some office in this conservative area of the state. And one of his strongest points was his refusal to give in on the family values issues.

I don't agree that the context is the same, gatordem. I am not giving up on the word family at all. but it is not appropriate in the context of the mission statement. I like the national mission statement. it says what it needs to say. I am opposed to fellowship, gabe, as it also has religious overtones. community is less loaded as a word, but the national mission statement with a place for elaboration in a separate place is great.

The conservative strategists are bullies. They take over words and ideas and then intimidate anyone who tries to reframe those words and ideas. The progressives need to challenge this intimidation with courage and confidence. This is a struggle, this is a conflict. You can't challenge these brutes without a willingness to punch them (verbally) in the nose, to take back the words that they have distoted and damaged. Families are a real thing, they exist as a political reality, they need to be considered in the political debate. In the real world families are; single parent with children, gay couples w/ children, extended families with grandparents raising children, etc. They need to be addressed authentically and realisticallly within the political debate.

The conservative strategists are reeling in defeat, now is the time to kick their asses.