What does it mean to be "progressive"?

Labels and categories are inherently insufficient and often problematic. But they are persistent for a reason: As identifiers, they help bring folks together. But, double-edged, they can also be used to reject each other at a superficial level - assumptions about labels or sportsball-style "we hate them because they're So-and-So Team," while ignoring everything else about them. So, while I've made the strategic choice to use the term "progressive" for this effort (MCPAN), I'm well-aware of the risks. The choice was essentially this: Work to focus the power of existing local progressives or work to convert more folks to progressive values? I chose the former, but I hope, if this goes well, it will ultimately do the latter.

So what is a progressive? Sure, there are definitions out there, but I expect most progressives will answer this question differently. So, of course, all I can really say is what it means to me. So there's my disclaimer. If you have some feedback, feel free to email me. You will see that my goal here is to focus on core values more than specific issues.

Progressives want to minimize suffering and maximize happiness for ALL beings on the planet.

We seek to empathize with those whom we don’t understand and check our selfish impulses. We seek to understand our “sins” (racism, phobias, oppression, greed, environmental destruction, genocide) and atone for them - personally, society-wide, legally, historically, and economically. We want to take responsibility and be accountable for that which we need to, but we also believe that both individuals and society as a whole hold responsibility for individual behavior. We believe, like Commander Spock of Star Trek, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” We are willing to take it for the team (Team Globe).

We believe that by everyone giving some, we all get more. We believe the freedom/regulation balance is the vehicle by which we all get greater meaningful freedoms and greater happiness. We don’t believe rich individuals and mega-corporate entities should be able to tell the poor what to do, or who to be, just because they hit the jackpot. We do not believe the ultra rich "earned" all their money, nor that it is right for them to hoard it or use it against the rest of us.

We believe human-designed policies, social structures, and systems are necessary for a civil society, but none are inherently sacred, and all things must change as the world changes. Our opinions change with new information and understanding, we value information, and we strive to seek new information and understanding. We try to see things as they are, not as we think think they should be, and take action on those realities, including meeting people where they are. While we hold a healthy skepticism of authority and power, we believe in science and that good governance is possible in the presence of a truth-based, fact-based, transparent democracy with an election system that as accurately as possible reflects the will and values of the people as a whole (i.e., NOT gerrymandering). We do not believe the rich should get more democracy than the poor, just because they have more money.

We believe in rational, clear-headed thinking, and do not condone fanaticism, rabid behavior, or wingnuts of any kind (because we have them too). We believe in analysis and education, but we also know we can’t know everything, and our analysis will never be perfect. We strive for the best analysis possible, but don't let that paralyze our work.

These values translate to platforms like the CA Progressive Alliance and the indigenous-led Red Nation. They translate to positions like Medicare4All, a women’s right to abortion, ranked-choice voting, an opposition to corporate personhood, progressive taxation (that ALL taxpayers feel equally).

​Our values aren’t clean, perfect, or homogeneous. We are vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, and carnivores. But, at the end of the day, our values are our attempt to do right by as many beings as possible, including ourselves.