Welcome to El Dorado Progressives!
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El Dorado Progressives was formed in November 2016 as a citizen response to the election of Donald Trump. In an unprecedented election that included:
• foreign interference
• race-baiting
• science denial
• attacks on immigrants
• physical assaults on persons exercising their Constitutional rights … and worse!
a completely unqualified candidate was elected to the highest office of our government, putting in jeopardy the fundamental social, political, and economic rights and liberties cherished by all of us as American citizens.
Trump’s election, however, was only a symptom of a political system, our American democracy, seriously in crisis. Money has become the determining factor in much of our political life, affecting who gets to run for office, who gets elected, and what laws and policies are decided or enacted. From the fossil fuel industry’s long history of climate change denial and attempts to thwart efforts like the Paris Climate Accord to Monsanto’s efforts to bury the science on pesticides and herbicides effects on our environment to the Koch brothers’ enormous sums of money poured into national and local elections and their support of such Rightwing efforts as ALEC, which quite literally “writes our laws” at the behest of corporate interests, to FoxNews and Breitbart’s twisting of facts and the open promotion of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” we are a nation in crisis. Only citizen action can and will turn our floundering ship of state around.
El Dorado Progressives was formed to do just that.
. . . And yet here we are again in 2024 . . .
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our Mission:
El Dorado Progressives is a non-partisan organization in El Dorado County, California, built on the values of generations of progressives: Freedom, Opportunity, Responsibility, and Community/Cooperation. We are active and vocal in our community and at the state & national levels to support and promote these values. We will hold elected officials at all levels of government accountable for upholding these values, and we are inclusive of all people regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
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Our Values:
Freedom: We believe all people should be free from undue government interference in their private affairs and personal beliefs. We believe that all people should be free to lead a fulfilling and secure life supported by the basic foundations of economic security and opportunity.
Opportunity: We believe all people should be able to turn their talents and ambitions into a meaningful life. Opportunity requires that all people have access to the basic items of security: Healthcare, Education, A Decent Job, Labor Rights, and a Secure Retirement.
Responsibility: If we are to have Freedom and Opportunity, we believe we must take personal responsibility and be responsible to one another and the common good. We must improve our lives through education and hard work, and we can improve the lives of others by putting public interests above the interests of a few and by understanding that strong families and communities are the foundations of a strong society. A key component of Responsibility is ecological and social sustainability. This requires good stewardship of our land, water, air, and natural resources, smart use of energy, and the responsible consumption of goods.
Community/Cooperation: Community and Cooperation are the foundation of our most important social institutions, including families, governments, and faith groups. Freedom without Community/Cooperation leads to a divided society that cannot work together to achieve common goals and improve the lives of all. We also fundamentally value human interdependence on a larger scale and accept the importance of looking beyond our own needs to help others and find global solutions to global problems.
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Our Goals:
To develop an effective organization in El Dorado County, California, to achieve our mission;
To have leadership of this group that is inclusive of all people in our group, regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation;
To develop and support common goals with individuals and groups in our community with empathy and open-mindedness;
To promote participation in public life to achieve our mission and promote our values;
To promote dialog with our local, state, and federal government and to hold them accountable for supporting our values;
To provide support to each other in our work.
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Leadership
Michael Kuuskvere and Sean Frame founded this group. Our steering committee consists of founders, Facebook moderators, administrators, and subgroup leaders. This group works on these Missions, Values, and Goals and sets the agenda for general meetings.
The El Dorado Progressives “Mission, Values, and Goals” were developed using excerpts from the “What it means to be a Progressive: A Manifesto” by John Halpin and Ruy Teixeira.