Blue Notes from a Red Zone

Vision in Action

Yesterday I broke from my normal routine of writing grants, running coalitions, driving 400 miles each way to serve on a statewide board of directors, writing more grants, organizing two capital campaigns, and leading continuing education courses on sexual assault and domestic violence. I agreed to the diversion as a way of earning some additional money, but I came away richer in more than funds.

Sometimes renewal comes in the most pedestrian of packages. What surprised me most about this surge of energy is that it was the result of an effort designed just for that purpose. I have attended many strategic planning sessions before. Some benefit was gained, but the entire structure seemed artificial, and thus became its own barrier in creating new thought and insight.

Facilitating a strategic planning session, however, created an incredible sense of synergy. As the energy flowed toward me, I was conscious of how vital our work is, no matter what individual jobs entail, and how small daily actions further large, magnificent goals. I started the day off with a quip as to how we would be creating a map for world peace. At the end, several participants pointed out that they felt that was exactly what had been accomplished.

All this resonated with me, as I was reading yet one more column on the inability of Democrats to offer a vision, to define solutions, to do anything more than complain about Republican mistakes. Even the most liberal commentators seem to buy into the idea that at least the Republicans are doing something, and all the Democrats can do is cavil at the results. The fact that the results include launching an eternal war of occupation that is further destabilizing the Middle East, and a massive transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the ultra-wealthy doesn’t seem to be nearly as vital as the supposed inability of the Democrats to act at all.

And yet, here I am, along with thousands of others, laboring in Democratically-envisioned services for the most fragile of our citizens, and accomplishing amazing things every day. The local Republican cant is that the poorest among us are responsible for their condition, and must better themselves. The Democratic position has always been that children born of children, into homes of deprivation and want, do not automatically have the skills necessary for creating a better life. The appropriate action is to engage in programs like Even Start, which enhance parental literacy skills and allow parents to raise children who can grow into their full potential. Another action step is to utilize subsidized child care to increase the quality of child care available to the poor among us, allowing for later success in the academic and career environments. The starry-eyed idealists who perform these tasks do so with fewer resources and longer odds all the time, courtesy the Republican administrations (state and national in our case) and Congress. Their creativity and vision is making a better future.

For those of us in the “field,” it is Democratic vision, and Republican myopia, that shapes the terms of tomorrow’s society. It is the Democratic Party that offers practical solutions to difficult problems, and the Republican Party with nothing to offer at all.

posted by Lenore Wilson @ 4:08 PM