VALUES MATTER
Strategic Morally Grounded Communication
Training & RESEARCH
In his 2014 book, the 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF DON’T THINK OF AN ELEPHANT, LAKOFF EXPLAINS NURTURING-PARENT VALUES.
Progressive Value/Belief System
(THese below are from many years ago . . . based on Lakoff's older books)
Nurturant morality is based on a fundamental ethic of care that says: Help, Don’t Harm. From the central values of Empathy/Caring and Social Responsibility, the ethic of care leads naturally to the following set of values that also characterizes the “nurturant/nurturing-parent model”:
Strength: You have to be strong and competent to carry out your responsibilities.
Safety and Protection: A nurturing parent wants his/her family to be safe, which requires that s/he protects it from harm. The motivation to protect others comes from empathy, and the ability to do so comes from responsibility and strength.
Fulfillment: (as in fulfillment in life) When we empathize with others and take care of them responsibly, we desire their well-being, and want their dreams to come true. Happy and fulfilled people want to see others happy and fulfilled. Correspondingly, unhappy, unfulfilled people tend not to want others to be happier than they are.
Fairness: (as in fair society, as in having the rich pay their fair share of tax investments. When we care for others, we want to treat them fairly, help them to treat others fairly, and ensure that others do treat them fairly. Basic fairness and equality (including in access to heathcare) are part of our nation’s foundation for sustainable freedom, prosperity, fulfillment, as well as strong families and communities.
FREEDOM: Freedom allows us to meet our needs, fulfill our potential, realize our dreams, and help others to do so as well.
Opportunity: (as in equal opportunity or social and econ. justice) Caring for others means ensuring they have opportunities to achieve fulfillment in life, to be treated fairly, and to be able to care for themselves and others.
Prosperity: (as in prosperity for all) Without prosperity, there can be no opportunity.
Community: Healthy, safe, strong, and truly free communities are based on cooperation, honesty, trust, and open communication (implying transparency).
Cooperation: Responsibility to others requires cooperation and empathy. Cooperation is the basis for community, and requires open communication, honesty and trust.
Trust: Trust is needed for open communication and cooperation. We are trustworthy when we treat others fairly and responsibly.
Honesty: Honesty is the hallmark of open communication, and is necessary for trust and cooperation.
Open Communication: Open communication is at the heart of empathy and resp;nsibility. To know how to care for others, we must communicate with them to understand their needs. Cooperation relies on two-way communication, not on one-sided lectures or unilateral actions.
Equality: (as in equality of opp.) Equity; Service (linked to “community”); Unity.
A few important value-laden terms: democracy, government for a better future, ethical business practices, values-based foreign policy
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WHAT ARE PROGRESSIVE VALUES?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/09/658017/-What-are-Progressive-Values
Here’s how Howard Dean wrote the list of values in 2008:
* Caring and responsibility, carried out with strength
* Protection, fulfillment in life, fairness
* Freedom, opportunity, prosperity
* Community, service, cooperation
* Trust, honesty, open communication
These fall in line behind the progressive principles of equity, equality, Democracy, Government for a better future, ethical business practices and a foreign policy that reflects our values.