Essential Estrogen

I'm with Linn County DFA, ICAN and Working Families Win at the Java Creek Cafe as we begin the "Our Common Values" discussion. We're about 10 minutes away from the start of the meeting, which I plan to live blog.

For those who need it, some background is available.

We are now going around the table doing introductions. Organizations represented include ICAN, DFA, Linn County Democrats and Working Families Win.

The goal, says Phillip Cryan, program director of ICAN, is to figure out where we want to be in 10 years. "Tonight we need to step outside of this urgency of this campaign, this issue and take the luxury of taking time to think about the future."

Cryan has asked the group to close their eyes while he speaks out a scenario of hope and optimism to get everyone in the mood of looking to the future.

"It's 2015 and we are at a victory party for some issue that you've wanted for years and years and years," he says toward the end. "Look around and see who is celebrating with you and what you are celebrating."

The group began to talk about where they went in their mind and how they got there. Universal healthcare, clean elections and an end to the dependency on fossil fuels were three of the major 'dreams' people had.

Next there was discussion on why these things haven't come to pass. What has society said about why these things cannot happen? Lots of ideas tossed out -- such as "government is bad" and "it just can't be done" and "it steps on individuals rights of choice" and more.

Bring the groups together -- begin the process -- use the excitement of the caucuses to bring everyone together to start to develop the long-term focus and values to be interjected into the community.

We do not want to get divided up -- all these progressive groups -- into "issue silos." We want to work together for the whole of progressive values.

We can still focus on our values, but we can do so in such a way as to change the conversation.

Pieces of paper with issues/positions are being passed around for us to discuss to see if these are on or off the national agenda, based on time-tables. (It's a bit difficult to understand without a visual, but we've got spaces on the wall devoted to certain time frames. We have issues - 2 of each one - which we are placing into either "on the agenda" or "off the agenda" categories.)

The issues include:

• Expanding Voting Rights
• Undermine Public School System
• End Fossil Fuel Dependence
• Fighting a "War on Poverty"
• Cut Welfare
• Privatize Social Security

Now there is a round-table to discuss the placement of the issues. "Is that on the agenda? Is it off the agenda?"

Something is noticed pretty quickly by the group: The early 1970s were quite progressive -- even with Richard Nixon at the helm. Did you know that Nixon supported universal healthcare?

Where did those values from the 1970s come from? How did we get to where we are now?

The group has begun to discuss how the conversation changed from the 1970s and a mostly progressive agenda to today and an extremely conservative agenda. One thing to remember, the conversation changes over time -- it isn't set in stone.

We not only need to be thinking about what is the correct policy position, but also how do we frame our positions so that we can compliment each other. But you can't frame an issue without working on core issues.

So, what are our core issues? Equality, fairness, responsibility, community, the common good and more. How do we change the conversation back to our values? How do we inject what we believe?

Now we need to develop themes and learn how to use them in the work we're already doing. There will be a gathering Saturday, June 16, in Iowa City at the library to go over all the tools. For more information on that, visit the ICAN site.