Democrats shouldn't even bother trying to be "pro-family" or "pro-business"

[Ken Burch]

Words sometimes don't mean what they sound like they mean.

Most Democratic officeholders are not, in fact socialists(whether we'd be better off if they were is an interesting question, but that's for another thread). They favor the continued existence of more or less a "market" economy. But that isn't enough for our business sector now. You're not "pro-business" simply for favoring the existence of business as such. You are ONLY "pro-business" if you are committed to unquestioningly doing EVERYTHING the Chamber of Commerce and the nation's CEO's demand that you do. And if you do enough to get called a "pro-business Democrat", you are basically talking, thinking and voting like a Republican. You can't do anything in office that's actually different than the Republicans.

By the same token, most people, including most of those who identify as "Democrats" are in some sort of family. This, however, is not enough to get you called "pro-family". By the standards of those who feel entitled to determine such things, you can ONLY be called "pro-family" if you are unquestioningly committed to stopping gay marriage, preserving and even increasing legal repression against LGBT people, and also re-establishing the 1950's "dark ages" consensus that anyone who doesn't live exactly like Ward and June Cleaver is "anti-family" and therefore both immoral, unclean, and likely failing to consume its proper share of red meat, sugar and trans fats.
This actually meant that most American families even THEN were not fitting the "pro-family" standard, since large numbers of heterosexual marriages were ending in divorce(or surviving simply because one or both spouses accepted that the other would simply be unfaithful or emotionally withdrawn for large portions of the relationship.) Therefore, being "pro-family" means agreeing to be against any and all notions of progressive social policy.

So, really, we should just announce that we're not going to even try to fit those categories, since the categories themselves were created solely to make it impossible for those who oppose reaction and greed to do anything in accordance with their owh principles.

Let's call ourselves "pro-people", "pro-justice" and "pro-freedom" instead.

[Trajan]

1. I do not agree ....

Pro workers = pro family

Pro workers = pro business ...

Take care of workers, and EVERYBODY wins ....

Dont give up so easily ... DONT cede an inch .... We DO fit those categories ....

[Kennah]

2. There are businesses and then there are corporations

Businesses make things, sell things, repair things, install things, and probably perform one or two other verbs on things.

Corporations maximize shareholder profits.

The two aren't always the same thing. Being Pro-Business is often code for Pro-Corporation, but the two terms are really quite different from one another.

[Ken Burch]

3. Agreed, but there's no way to work within the term "pro-business" as currently defined

And no real chance of changing its definition. So, really, why bother?

Democrats should take the view that yes, for the moment, we're a capitalist country, but that DOESN'T mean that what the business sector wants outweighs what the people in general want. If this is supposed to be a country based on self-sufficiency, than we should expect business to take care of itself and not to demand preferential treatment from the government and the legal system. We should hold that business is simply PART of this country, not the only important part of it.

We need to stop trying to jump through a hoop that is designed to be too small for us.

[Kennah]

6. Change the dialog altogether and eschew the term "Pro-Business"

"I support businesses that support the community."

"I don't support businesses that outsource jobs."

"I think business works best when business is local."

[Ken Burch]

7. That's along the lines of what I'm saying.

FDR never worried about being seen as "pro-business".

[Abq_Sarah]

8. Believe me

As a business owner, I don't want preferential treatment from the government or the legal system. I also don't want to be told that I somehow "owe" this country more than my neighbor who draws a paycheck from a corporation. I have a legal and moral obligation to my employees and customers, period. Not society as a whole.

[Ken Burch]

9. And there's nothing in my comments that's aimed personally at you.

People like you aren't what the term "pro-business" was meant to include. In fact, part of what needs to happen is to reduce the power of the larger corporations because they're obsessed with squeezing folks like you out(not that you didn't know that of course, but still...)

[bklyncowgirl]

4. We hate families? We hate business?

I don't know where you live but most people I come in contact with tend to like families and feel that business is the foundation of our economy. It seems to me that what we need to do is reframe the discussion.

Pro family from a liberal perspective = A living wage for the parents, access to affordable health care for all and opportunities for a good education for the kids. Promoting a cultural environment that encourages achievement and acknowledges diversity.

Pro business from a liberal perspective = Insuring an equal playing field for businesses both large and small at home and abroad. Creating and enforcing the ground rules (regulations) that enable businesses to flourish without harming people or the environment. Encouraging research and development to get us where we need to be.

Is this going to be easy? No. But to say that we don't care about families or business is just silly.

[Ken Burch]

5. Of course we don't hate either

but we can't try to fit the "pro-family" or "pro-business" labels without moving so far right that we become indistinguishable from the GOP.

Neither of those terms can ever have a progressive or humane designation.

Both are owned by the right and that's just how it is. It's pointless to try to compete for such labels since the only reason they're used is to impose restrictions on the debate.

Let's try creating labels and definitions that actually work for what WE stand for.