Edwin: If you created a metaphor for Progressive and Conservative Values, what would they be like?

Jim: Certainly some of the hybrid cars come to mind.  Simply because they serve a lot of different purposes, not just being good on gas.  They are enormously practical.  They have a certain style to them, but again, they are driven by pragmatism, not ostentatious like “who has the biggest car on the block”- type culture. 

I think they have what really appeals to Americans, since they have applied practical ideas as to how to run government and how to run the politics of this government.  That’s the first thing that comes to mind.  I’m not too good at word association, but certainly, it’s that sort of pragmatic approach.

You see that a lot in a lot of different communities.  You know, I work a lot in Vermont – that’s where our office is.  You see people who look at this thing as not about left or right.  Not about Republicans versus Democrats, but again, about a culture of activism over a culture of incumbency.

The activist part is about simply getting a practical approach to getting government to work for its folks, for its people, for all of its taxpayers.  In stead of being driven by right-wing ideology.

Edwin:  Talking about right-wing ideology, what would conservative values be like?  What metaphor would you have for them.

Jim:  Well, right now, SUVs, the largest SUV – the Yukon – it’s as great a word association as I can think of – other than the fact that it’s large, has absolutely no value at all.  It uses up a lot of gas, it’s big and unwieldy.  It’s difficult to drive, and all it does is make a statement that is kind of irrelevant right now.

Cartoon: “All along I thought our level of corruption fell well within community standards.”

Definition of Corruption
Lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain;
The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction and deterioration.

From Wikipedia
Corruption, when applied as a technical term, is a general concept describing any organized, interdependent system in which part of the system is either not performing duties it was originally intended to, or performing them in an improper way, to the detriment of the system's original purpose. Its original meaning has connotations of evil, malignance, sickness, and loss of innocence or purity....

Political corruption, or the dysfunction of a political system or institution in which government officials, political officials or employees seek illegitimate personal gain through actions such as bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and embezzlement. ...

Putrefaction or decomposition of recently living matter. This physical process is the primary model of the metaphorical meaning of corruption, so advanced states of corruption in, e.g. a political structure are said to result in their putrefaction.
 

Some Questions for Discussion:

-  Do you think corruption is a conservative value?

 - What does the Conservative Culture of Corruption mean?

-  How have conservative values failed?

-  What conservative value has been the greatest failure.
 

Failed Conservative Values
I ask for your assistance to systematically build the arguments and tell the stories that reveal how Conservative Values have Failed. Join in our effort to create a documentary and book on the subject by contributing  articles, posts, chapters for the book and video clips. Check our website for more information and a growing outline of tasks that need to be done on this project. 
 

See More Progressive Values Stories:

Edwin Rutsch
What Are Progressive Values? Documentary Project
http://ProgressiveSpirit.com 
and DFA Study Group