Views » December 30, 2004 » Web Only

Progressive Priorities Survey Results

By In These Times Staff

“Moral values” has become the hot-button phrase since November 2. To counter the implication that progressives have no “morals” or “values,” In These Times conducted an informal survey of its online audience to determine how progressives define themselves and their principles. The survey, Progressive Priorities, also asked readers to identify the top issues and strategies progressives should focus on during the next four years.

Of the more than 450 people who responded to the survey, 75 percent agreed progressives should be concerned with “moral values.” But the conservatives’ frame for “moral values”—abortion, gay marriage, and prayer in the schools—weren’t at the top of progressives’ list. Below are our readers’ responses, including selected quotes.

What are the top five key issues for progressives in the next four years?

What three tactics should progressives focus on?

What values do progressives have in common?

“The economy is here for our benefit, not vice versa.”

“ We are stewards of our planet, not stockholders.”

“Empathy: other people’s suffering matters.”

“Injustice is repugnant.”

“The belief that the system should eliminate barriers and create opportunities so that everyone has the possibility to go as far as their skills will allow.”

“We think that there should be a level playing field for educational and economic opportunities; we respect diversity; we believe in a clear distinction between government and religion; we believe that we are responsible for protecting the environment.”

“Progressives try to avoid ‘faith based’ arguments.”

“Peace and justice, good public education system, fair trade, independent media, environmental protection, election reform and reversing corporate control of our government.”

“Building on the values expressed in the Constitution, particularly in the Bill of Rights.”

“Community. We do our part in the family community, the local community, and the global community.”

“The well-established but now threatened social and economic web of job and labor protection; social security; the need for better healthcare and cheaper drugs; the rollback of the tax cuts for the rich; safeguarding clean air and water.”

“We want equality, meaning fairness for all regardless of family backgrounds or bank statements.”

“Human rights and the environment are top priorities. Corporate greed and power is the cause of many injustices in the nation and the world. Education and public access to truth and honest media are essential for a democracy.”

How do you define your personal principles and values?

“I’m an envirocommupacifist …”

“My personal principles and values stem from a deep respect for individual rights and liberties balanced by an understanding that in the interest in the well being of society I must accept the limiting of certain of my freedoms.”

“John F. Kennedy spoke my mind in 1960 when he said: ‘If by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’ “

“If your actions impact other members of the world, your actions are subject to review from the members of society.”

“I am pro-women, pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-reason, pro-social justice, pro-economic justice, against corporate personhood, for the rights of people over profits and giving every person the opportunity to fulfill his or her potential instead of denying those opportunities and blaming them for their failures.”

“It is my responsibility to keep myself informed about what is going on in the world, and to refrain from contributing to the established system of injustice as much as possible.”

“People matter more than principles, that is, do what’s right and damn the consequences.”

“It is important to treat people equally and fairly. It is also important to work hard and make a contribution to society.”

“I have a personal set of moral values that are mine alone. I can’t expect others to live by them because they have not shared my unique experience.”

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

“I feel that all people have the right to health care, a living wage, freedom to express how one feels without persecution of any sort. Also, a clean and healthy environment so many generations will have one to enjoy.”

“Modern, fair, tough, honest, realistic, open-minded, logical and analytical… with an eye on the long-term.”

“Always tell the truth.”

“As a progressive Catholic, my personal principles and values represent those presented by Jesus.”

“I care about the welfare of everyone, not just me. Health care is a right, not a privilege. I believe in the Bill of Rights (as written, not interpreted by Conservatives) and the right to privacy is high on the list.”

Start your own discussion of progressive values below.

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• Reader Comments

  To better expand on this issue - I’d like to see a comprehensive and balanced survey of volunteers and workers for groups like the Red Cross, Doctors w/o Borders, CARE, UNICEF, Peace Corps, Shelters/soup kitchens (both religious and non-religious)... basically people at the front-lines of non-profit groups that provide services to the poor, hungry, the sick, the addicted who are US citizens and voted in the last election. I think this would speak louder and create its own story, be it for the right or left mouthpieces - I’ll reserve my judgement for who would win this survey.

  The moral value thing is starting to blow in the wind anyways, the actual numbers on that are below 10% from what I’ve read, well below the war and economy in the polling and not to mention the uncertainty over the exit polling anyways.

  Posted by dzn on Jan 4, 2005 at 6:16 PM

  Good going to raise the issue!!! Ceding the “moral” high ground” to people who think it’s ok to poison our childrens’ air and drinking water has been our greatest strategic weakness. It’s time to get tough and hit them head on with “family values” such as health care and the environment. Voting irregularities aside, these issues are low-hanging fruit that could tip the balance. They appeal to a broad array of republicans and democrats alike [as well as 3rd party candidates] and the Rove people have left themselves wide open - due to the inherent nature of what this administration says vs. what it does this is perhaps our only chance. Considering that Karl Rove is probably the most intense, sharpest political strategist of our time this is no small opportunity. Too bad hindsight is 20/20; but good thing there is always 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012. . . . . .

  Posted by Ed Mellon on Jan 5, 2005 at 9:43 PM

  I am pro-choice and also believe that we should be taking care of the environment this is gods country not ours and for the conservative christian right to assult the christian faith with corruption by telling people that those who voted for Bush were christians and those who didnt were pagen. Does he have any idea that their were millions of christians that did not vote for Bush? does he not understand that the bible just doesnt talk about gays and abortion like it is the only moral issue in the bible. Do they know that god does not want them to impose their religious views on others through the political system? this is why the supreme court judicial nomination is so important. we cant afford this group or any other group to take over and blame Hollywood for their problems or that of the United States we know what the bible says they dont and that is something that the Democrats/progressives are gonna have to relate to the red states as well as the blue states. Economic issues are moral issues.

  Posted by Cheryl Johnson on Jan 7, 2005 at 9:54 AM

  There was an article in today’s San Diego Union Tribune announcing that San Diego County is the 2nd-worst in the US for affording to buy a home. San Diego ranked second behind Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc area with a median home price of $470,000.

  With home prices out of reach for most people and rents just as equally out of proportion to income there is little hope that most people can improve their financial status enough to climb out of this deep hole in their lifetime.

  Last week on one of the evening news programs it was reported that consumer borrowing debt tops $9 trillion. Yes, $9 trillion. However, massive borrowing in the Bush administration plus $1.35 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of the population have set the tone for runaway greed, the likes of which have never been seen under any previous president. But Bush set the standard for his avaricious administration when, shortly after the 9/11 hijack bombings of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he exhorted all Americans to “Spend.”

  
  Though the Bush administration and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show job growth rising to 157,000 in the past month other experts explain that the job market needs to add a minimum of 150,000 workers just to keep up with the new population entering the work force.

  Even so, job numbers don’t tell more than half the story. In much of the job growth in San Diego, for example, about 40% of the jobs are literally McJobs, jobs that are at the lower end of the wage spectrum. None of these people taking the bare minimum wage jobs can afford a home nor can a single family of four live much above the poverty wage which government statistics show to be about $18,660 per year. 

  While health care costs have been rising at double digits, US income has actually dropped by 9.2% over the last four years according to the Internal Revenue Service numbers. Factor in the questionably low 3.2% inflation, which is twice as high in San Diego and other metropolitan areas, and the standard of living continues to plummet.

  With 45 million without health care coverage, 35.9 million living below the poverty line, 11 million of them children, those who espoused Bush’s “divinely-guided” leadership qualities as their main reason for voting for his punitive policies understand less about the reality of today’s world than they do about the compassion they allude to so easily when they cherry pick biblical scripture to disguise their vacant and empty “moral values.”

  Posted by Richard on Jan 7, 2005 at 8:32 PM

  You know I used to be a Democrat, I really did.I believed in a lot of things the dems stood for especially in terms of the empathy they had for the human condition of the less fortunate. But when I see Teddy Kennedy have the sheer testicular audacity to question someone on the use of drowning as torture I begin to bristle. Here this pompous windbag let some poor girl drown to save his worthless drunken ass and political career. He is one of the main reasons that folks find the Democratic party so odious and why they keep spiraling downward in power. It’s the hypocrisy Teddy!!

  Posted by redstate on Jan 7, 2005 at 8:54 PM

• extended discussion >>>Continued...

  Discussions with more than 5 comments are continued on our special discussion page to encourage continuity and ease of use. There are currently 24 posts.

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