"At least it's an ethos."
April 3, 2012 3:28 AM   Subscribe

What do American "values voters" actually value? The American Values Project gathers answers.
posted by anotherpanacea (23 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I was hoping for comprehensive statistical or survey data on what USA voters do "actually" value. I was disappointed it was a bunch of empty catch-phrase terms with pretty pictures.
posted by mary8nne at 3:37 AM on April 3, 2012 [19 favorites]


IF THE PERSON IN THE IMAGE IS YOU:

"I hereby give permission to The American Values Project to use my name and photographic likeness in all forms and media for advertising, trade, and any other lawful purposes related to The American Values Project."


I was all ready to participate until I got to this.

*Crushes up hand-written sign saying "I VALUE NOT HAVING MY IMAGE EXPLOITED FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES"*

*Throws into trash can.*
posted by three blind mice at 3:55 AM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I was hoping for comprehensive statistical or survey data on what USA voters do "actually" value. I was disappointed it was a bunch of empty catch-phrase terms with pretty pictures.

What makes you think that American "value voters" don't just value a bunch of empty catch-phrase terms with pretty pictures?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 4:19 AM on April 3, 2012 [10 favorites]


I value not thinking too hard about what I value!

Also, I value holding a sign on the internet, the new face of social change. Is there a petition I can sign after taking a picture of myself holding a sign? This is it. Our signs and signatures are going to reshape the world!
posted by fuq at 4:32 AM on April 3, 2012 [3 favorites]


I like this. It seems earnest and right on tone to me. I'm not thrilled by some of the things that some of these folks value, but that's ok, too.
posted by OmieWise at 5:33 AM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


I was just expecting a single serving website that said Privilege in H1.
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:40 AM on April 3, 2012 [4 favorites]


Also, I consider myself a godless socialist by their standards, and I like working with my hands, too!

Common ground!
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:41 AM on April 3, 2012


Lord I hate that phrase. It's not even "these people have different values than you," it's more "your values don't count."
posted by LastOfHisKind at 5:42 AM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also, it implies your values aren't American. Unamerican, if you will.
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:43 AM on April 3, 2012


Great title, by the way. A great line, regardless, but a good use of it here.
posted by OmieWise at 6:04 AM on April 3, 2012


I give up. Where did they hide the money, power, and god?
posted by maniabug at 6:26 AM on April 3, 2012


To be clear, I think the organizers are trying to respond to this idea that there's an authentic American set of values with a flood of the many different values Americans actually hold. I think I framed it wrong: it's not about that 20% of the population that call themselves "real Americans" but about the rest of us, who are really Americans, too.
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:29 AM on April 3, 2012


So which party supports the Glitterthugs platform? Cause that's what I'll vote for.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 6:59 AM on April 3, 2012


Aw, it's like a late-90s music video!
posted by threeants at 8:11 AM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


The answer is Cheetos. It always has been.
posted by lumpenprole at 8:20 AM on April 3, 2012


I value holding a sign on the internet
Well, it can lead to some pretty interesting things.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:30 AM on April 3, 2012


The American Values Project gathers answers puts up a website so people generate content and give it to them for free, and then will try to get a book deal.
posted by fritley at 8:36 AM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Coming from the Aliens thread might have biased me, but... I assume that they didn't realize that the AVP initialism is taken, and tht it would make people with certain nerdy values interpret their Rorschach-like logo as the maw of a leaping facehugger.
posted by painquale at 8:56 AM on April 3, 2012


I am also a tiny bit disappointed, though this is a very nice idea. I like it for what it is - a project showing the diversity of things people value personally. But I quibble with it because by linking it to the public conversation about "values," it is conflating personal values (which in some cases are better classified as interests or hobbies) with civic values. These are different things. "What motivates and moves you personally?" is a different question from "What values do you believe should be at the foundation of our governance?," and I know that I, at least, would answer these differently.

Personal values come first in the formation of a value system, but in putting something called "American values" together we are looking for collective values, and values for a particular project or process, which is somewhat different from asking about what gets you up in the morning and makes you want to live another day.

I would still be interested in a project that interviews millions of people and answers the second question - what values should be enshrined in our shared government?
posted by Miko at 8:57 AM on April 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Apparently we value jingoism, empty morale boosting rhetoric, and anything which distracts us from an otherwise awful state of affairs in the country.
posted by Slackermagee at 11:03 AM on April 3, 2012


...a Philosophy professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, put a call out on her blog asking readers to write down on a sign something that they value...

I don't think the people reading that blog and the people we were thinking of when you said 'values voters' are necessarily the same people.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 12:24 PM on April 3, 2012


True, but they're all Americans.
posted by anotherpanacea at 12:32 PM on April 3, 2012


My name is fuq and I value internet snark.
posted by fuq at 7:58 PM on April 3, 2012


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