Welcome to A Progressive's Toolbox. My name is Mark Blasini. I am a thinker, writer, and self-identified progressive. This site features my personal thoughts, strategies, and language on how progressives can defend, promote, and unite behind our singular vision of government.
I created this site in order to help progressives like myself more effectively and strategically promote a political philosophy that I believe reflects true American values.
The inspiration for this site came from two sources. The first source was George Lakoff's 2004 book Don't Think of an Elephant. In it, Lakoff argues how important it is for Democrats and progressives to frame the political debate and speak from progressive values. This site is an attempt to accomplish this.
The second source of inspiration was due to frustration over the years at how poorly - I feel at least - Democrats on the whole have made the case for progressivism to the people. Instead, they have let conservatives control the political narrative and sow distrust towards government and the institution of democracy. This site is an attempt to counter this decades-long trend.
Many people are worried that we are headed towards a civil war, or at least, massive civil unrest. They fear the violence and a general lack of respect for rule of law. But the truth is, I believe that civil war has already started in this country, and has been going on for decades now. But instead of being fought between armies on geographical battlegrounds with fists or bullets, it is being fought in the minds of everyday citizens - the weapons being words and images, wielded by politicians, political candidates, political action committees, media companies, and pundits.
This war is cultural in nature, but it is a civil war nonetheless. And it is war that has been dominated by conservative Republicans for a long time now.
My aim with this site is not to argue why Democrats or progressivism is better than Republicans or conservativism in general. I do not have the expertise or interest to defend specific policies or political points.
Rather, my aim is simply to help even the playing field - to equip progressives with the "tools" or "weapons" they may need to better fight this war. My only hope is that it is not too late to utilize them. I firmly believe the fate of our democracy depends upon it.
Feel free to contact me if you're interested in discussing about any of the content on this site.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you find this site useful!