I was reading this article to a friend as we ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel yesterday and the waitress stopped pouring my coffee, and I stopped and looked at her, she asked me to keep reading, she wanted to hear what I was saying and afterwards praised what I read. So I figured I would post it here as well. One of my friends asked me what the Democratic Party stood for so I sent him the following:

In my first article, I talked about coming from a Progressive point of view. What are the values of someone who is a progressive? I feel that I should explain myself more if I am going to call myself a “Progressive”.

There are four major values in terms of Progressive Thinking:

1. Freedom - This is the most basic progressive value, and the most contested in American life. We have a two-part definition of freedom: “freedom from” and “freedom to”. 

First, we believe that all people should have freedom from undue interference by governments and others in carrying out their private affairs and personal beliefs. This includes our rights to freedom of speech, association, and religion as well as the freedom to control our own bodies and personal lives. 

Second, we believe that all people should have the freedom to lead a fulfilling and secure life supported by the basic foundations of economic security and opportunity. This includes physical protections against bodily harm as well as adequate income, economic protections, health care and education.

2. Opportunity 

Opportunity means making sure that all people have the chance to turn their talents and ambitions into a meaningful life, and prohibits discrimination against anyone based on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious faith or non-faith, or disability. And to have the conditions needed for people to be secure and to move up in life — health care, education, a decent job, labor rights, and a secure retirement.

3. Responsibility 

We believe in personal responsibility and the responsibility we have to each other and to the common good. Personal responsibility requires each of us to do our part to improve our own lives through hard work, education, and by acting with honesty and integrity. Responsibility to others and to the common good requires a commitment to putting the public interest above the interests of a few and an understanding that strong families and communities are the foundation of a good society. 

4. Cooperation 

Cooperation is the foundation of our most important social institutions including our families, our communities, and our civic and faith groups. Freedom without cooperation leads to a divided society that cannot work together to achieve common goals and improve the lives of all. Cooperation as a value requires that we try to be open-minded and empathetic toward others and that we are accountable for their well-being as they are accountable to us. 

There is no difference between Progressive values and American values. Progressives want political equality, good public schools, healthy children, care for the aged, police and fire protection, family farms, air you can breathe, water you can drink, fish in our streams, forests you can hike in, livable cities, ethical businesses, journalists who tell the truth, poetry and art, and jobs that pay a living wage to everyone that works.

Progressives activists, the ones who fight for living wages, women’s rights, human rights, the environment, health, voter registration, and much more, are American patriots, working with unselfish dedication toward making a better world, a world that fits fundamental American values.