"An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor." Robert Frost
When I interview people about progressive values, I've also asked them to create a metaphor of those values. Sometimes creating an image to represent some feeling or thought can shed some new light on it. It can illuminate some aspect that you may not have thought of before. I also find metaphors to be fun and creative. Here are several metaphors of what Progressive Values are like.
Progressive Values are like:
Mimi Kennedy - like a Progressive Flowing River versus Conservative Stagnant Pond
Well, a river comes to mind – slow, movement, beauty, but not in stasis. I would think of a right wing control as being a pond that might look great when it first starts and gets real stagnant and attracts mosquitoes and eventually dries up because there’s no living spring or flow to it.
I was actually thinking today that the donkey for the Democratic Party with the stubbornness should maybe go – now we’re ready to go for a racehorse. We got to get ahead of the game and stop just being stubborn. We got to go forward.
Scott Henderson - Progressive Aspen Grove versus the Conservative Lone Oak
Several metaphors come to mind. One is the conservatives would probably say they’re like the mighty oak, because they stand alone and stand up for the all the elements that might attack the oak. A progressive would say they’re more like a grove of aspens, because they’re all joined at the roots, and they spring up and can be very beautiful – their shimmering leaves in the fall, and the wind blowing through them. And they’re very strong, because if you kill one aspen tree, the rest are all joined at the roots, and they can still sustain.
Henry E Hall - like a Mist of Spray
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