Thinking of Elephants

I knew there was a reason I had put off reading George Lakoff and I discovered it tonight as I finally bit the bullet. I have not wanted yet another reminder of all the rethinking and reframing and reorganizing that has to be done - that and I keep resisting the push to try to understand where conservatives are coming from - a lot because where they are coming from is where I have been running from for most of my life. Help me, St. Francis - Grant that I may not seek so much to be understood as to understand. It's just that the strict father model that Lakoff talks about is so repulsive to me because I saw how much it hurt people and felt how much it hurt myself growing up - so the problem is personal as well as political. I guess I am just realizing the strength of the frames that I have in relation to that strict father model.

(insert huge sigh here)

And I am tired. In some ways I am one of those tired progressives Lakoff talks about - so busy on the defensive that it's hard to do strategic thinking, hard to find time for the kind of mental work that is needed - and maybe it's why I end up feeling so exhausted so much of the time. New frames, new ideas, strategic planning - but who gets left behind in the process. I don't want to sacrifice people on the long road to rebuilding a true moral authority in politics. But maybe the country needs to see that it's the progressives that are last line of defense against the not so enlightened self-interest and social darwinist policies of the current leadership. Lest I fall into the all too easy trap of simply railing against the seemingly dominant paradigm rather than offering an alternative, I'll try to choke down my anger a bit, but it's hard - a rather righteous indignation welled up as I was reading Lakoff's description of how we've gotten to where we are.

But I'm also tired of being defined by others - my much earlier reaction against labels - and I'm tired of my political views getting branded by the other side, so, okay, I'm thinking now. Actually, it feels like a lifetime of attempted conversations with my brother exploding everywhere - that all the things he said that I would butt my head up against again and again growing up are so many of the things that give me a headache now. So, then, what are my values, my frames?

I'll start with the simple because it's getting late - a listing of values:

responsibility - personal and social; to oneself, family, and community; FOR sins known and unknown, for my well-being and that of my family and broader society, for those who have not been blessed with the same opportunities and priveleges I have; hasn't anyone else read Emanuel Levinas??

compassion - to feel with, not to feel sorry for; to place oneself in another's shoes; recognition of our interconnectedness and interdependence flowing from our Creator; willingness to enter into the brokenness of the world first with love and not with judgment (with a cross, not with power)

fairness/economic justice - work has intrinsic value and should be rewarded justly; people are the foundation of economic life, not industries, not corporations; employers are responsible to their employees as well as investors and consumers; the wealth of a few should not come at the expense of the lives of all; taxation should be progressive - from those to whom much has been given, much will be expected; wasn't sharing one of the first things we learned as children????

education/intellectual curiosity - thirst for knowledge, willingness to question and to try to see from another perspective; life is more than TALKING POINTS and ideological purity

honesty and trust (borrowing from Lakoff, but they are what always come first to mind when I think of what I look for in friends and potential dates) - truth and facts do matter, but motives matter as well;

human dignity - people matter more than ideas and theories, however pretty they may sound

humility and gratitude - I am a part of all that I have met; yet all experience is an arch wherethro' Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move (think about it)

That's enough for now - I can rest having done at least a little bit of work, right? I've got battles upon battles both internal and external to fight tomorrow and I need rest.