NOW Rules in Agonizing Ways

We want a future that works for everyone.  But NOW still rules in agonizing ways.  People are suffering and there’s too much blindness to it.

I hope you’ve contacted your Quorum Court members. (scroll down the page to find them) Many people have, and more messages are needed.  The pressure is being felt.  (Maybe you noticed JP Deakin is becoming irate under it).

All this goes back to the core values concepts linguist George Lakoff identified. That story goes like this:

Human values are hidden so deep in our psyches that they’re invisible, but they rule most of our behavior.  About 80% of us are ruled by one of two basic values systems Lakoff calls “strict father” and “nurturant parent” values. We learn them from birth but life experience shifts them in lots of ways. Strict father values align with what we see from Donald Trump and his followers and might also be called “authoritarian” values.  The culture has operated under authoritarian values for several thousand years.

Values systems are not good or bad, they just “are”, but they have effects.  All of us are doing our best.   We want to see ourselves as good guys fighting a good fight for what’s right.  But of course, what’s right depends on the values you hold.  Right now the values of the culture are shifting rapidly.  There are some who didn’t get the memo about that so they’re struggling to understand what’s going on as the world they know keeps slip sliding away. 

This is not an excuse for callous behavior, but we’re getting a ring-side seat on values watching our Quorum Court in operation.  Here’s how that plays out through the lens of values change: 

Authoritarian values are firmly clear that to receive good you must show yourself worthy.  People show they’re worthy by getting richer.  (That’s a culture thing.  Jesus pretty much says the opposite, but culture eats religion for breakfast so some miss that)  Other authoritarian values include things like strength, self-discipline, self-responsibility, competition is noble, obey authority, show no weakness, the guy on top is always a white man and he’s always right, those on top take care of those on the bottom (who obey), those on the bottom always obey those above them … the kind of values you recognize right away from Donald Trump or maybe some of your family. 

The image that comes to mind now is of seven white male Justices debating who is worthy of $4.5 million dollars.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with those values.  For better or worse, humans used those values to build this civilization. 

Why should the values be changing now?   It’s because of war. 

Remember that moment in 1945 when the ultimate big bombs were unleashed on Japan?  Our own country imagined that made us the big dogs, so we spent the next 80 years fighting to reinforce our fantasy.

Some were not fooled.  The youth of the Vietnam war generation grew up with the memory of those big bombs.   There’s good evidence that the values shift is because that generation had higher levels of education, international travel, and internet connections.  Internet wasn’t there in 1945, but by the Vietnam war TV was.  The images of bombed villagers fed the resistance that helped end the war and killed the idea that it was noble. Every war since WWII has eroded confidence in authoritarian values and encouraged consideration of alternatives.

As Vietnam slaughtered on, people started shifting to nurturant values.  Those values include seeing ourselves as “in this together,” empathy, self-understanding, human connection, cooperation, accepting differences, a longing for real community…all the things authoritarian values worked very hard to deny.

The next image that comes to mind is 5 diverse women Justices insisting that the $4.5 million help poor people in Washington County.

Unfortunately, in giving up the old values, we didn’t figure out what was replacing them until thinkers like Lakoff started parsing all this out in the 1980’s.  Values are invisible, after all.  Authoritarianism wasn’t a clear concept until Donald Trump demonstrated it.  Now we can be clear that we do NOT want THAT.  Before it was murkier.

Which brings us back to a conservative Quorum Court sitting on $4.5 million that could be paying rent for people who may or may not appear to be “worthy” of help.  We the people are demanding that half the Court act from nurturant values that are alien to them.  They think we’re demanding that they disobey everything their daddy taught them. And their fiscally conservative God too.

I don’t have the answer to this, but I think we need a more nuanced approach to the conversation.  I think we’re clear that encouraging the nurturant Heroes of the debate is good.  But what’s the best way to approach the authoritarian side? 

We can look at this as a pilot testing different tactics.  There are some with an overpowering need to lay the pressure on thick.  Others of us may use reason or empathy, and still others will have unique ways to express our values for care and fairness.  One important thing that we’ve learned from our conservative forbearers is that if we’re going to have the outcome we need, we can’t back down.  It’s imperative to stay in the game and keep finding ways to express those things that come from our hearts that lead to a better world good for all. 

This is not a random issue BTW.  It’s a critical moment for progressive values in Washington County.  If the Court finds ways to pocket this money and go back to business as usual it’ll be that much easier to force future decisions in a conservative direction. That’s not a nurturant option.  We need to know how to empower our nurturant Justices to stand up and fight for the issues we care about by having their backs.  They deserve that, and it’s our job as citizens who elected them. 

The same scenario is playing out on the national level.  Mitch McConnell just announced that “… there’s no need for more state and local aid…”  what hooey.  We need to learn how to apply pressure to our conservative Arkansas politicians and support nurturant / progressive leaders at every level.  Every one of these “pilot” projects can help us get smarter about how to do it.

This progressive Fayetteville bubble is tied together with a slender thread.  Our deep red state needs our presence to keep it from being swallowed by its own alarmist fantasies, and progressives need that slender thread linking us together to keep our bearings while we navigate this chaotic time. 

Taking care of each other is part of our new normal. The fun part.  Thank you to each leader driving some of that determination to hold our community in this light. 

In an ecological civilization where community cared for its people and planet with wisdom, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We wouldn’t have homeless or hungry people.  We’d be talking about making our world beautiful.  Instead we must fight short-sightedness with heart and mind.  We’re in this for the long haul, so let’s get over short-sighted.  Let’s make Washington County a better place by using that $4.5 million to help.

P.S.: Image for what the nurturant parent value system wants to look like. Once we all get our act together.