Kindness Our Resistance

How the Progressive Party Is Rebuilding a Future Grounded in Kindness, Justice, Compassion, and Community

“Be Kind.” These two words hang on the walls at the recent Progressive Party gathering. Kindness here isn’t just a slogan — it’s a call to action. And yesterday, kindness was not an abstract ideal. It arrived when the Progressive Party gathered, and the air filled with questions grounded in simple, communal concern: “How may I help?” May I help with the food? Parking? Clean-up?”, “Do you need me to help spread salt on the ice?” “May I carry your books?” These were not empty gestures — they were the humble, transformative acts of people who understand the needs of communities — that we leave the land, the place, and each other better than we found them.

Government leaders, local mechanics, doctors, lawyers, organizers and organizations, and individuals showed-up to say: “We care about our community”, “We want to organize for our children’s future”. Because that is what both the Progressive Party and our community do — we show up for each other, we get organized and work together, making sure no one is left behind, and making sure the land and people are better for us all.

The Progressive Party gathered in the Haybarn Theater, the heart of Goddard, where the air is thick with history and possibility. This is where Bernie Sanders honed his voice, and where revolutions were born. Goddard has never just been a place of learning—it’s a launchpad for movements, radicals, and those who refuse to accept injustice and “business as usual”. And you could feel it — the ancestral change angels — those who stood against war, against corporate greed, and oppression were here lifting us on their wings, reminding us: Our work is far from done.

Goddard taught us to be Possibilitarians

Goddard understood that knowledge is not just something to be hoarded for personal gain, used to get ahead of someone else or show off with and bask in an advanced degree. Goddard taught us education is a tool to help us think for ourselves, to imagine, and create a healthy, just, sustainable world. It was a place that asked us to think for ourselves, be bolder and braver, to stretch the limits of what we thought possible. Here, ideas didn’t just linger in classrooms; they took root and spread, finding expression in the everyday community actions that make theory tangible. The Clockhouse, the Design Center, the Haybarn — these weren’t just buildings, they were the epicenters of movements that refused to accept the world’s injustices as permanent, as inevitable. In every corner, in every gathering, there was a constant reminder of Pitkin’s progressive roots: change is not a distant dream, it’s a living, breathing force, and it begins with us.

And the Progressive Party made it clear yesterday — it is not about the rise of one person — it is about community and it is about the rise of us. It’s about building a community grounded in justice, equity, and compassion. The values that drove past movements — the fight for social justice, the stand against monopolies and corruption— the same values Teddy Roosevelt embraced in the Bull Moose Party and that are alive in the hearts of those who gather here today. It’s about creating a world where courage, compassion, and independent critical thinking are not just ideals but the very fabric of our communities.

And here is what Goddard reminded us again: We do not wait for permission. We understand change is messy. We do not wait for someone else to give us the change we deserve. We build it ourselves. Just as Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party was a bold, radical response to the concentration of power in the hands of a few, today’s Progressive Party is the call to arms for the many. The people — (“the Naturals” not the new monied “GenRich” as coined by Bill McKibben) — will build the future we want our children to inherit. Bernie Sanders knows this and decades ago stood up, right here, in the Haybarn, and called on the people of Vermont to take back power from the ground up. And that is what we are doing today. Together. On this campus with its storied legacy. In these small local communities. In the Town Meeting Halls. In dining rooms and gathering places across the nation and the world. We are saying: “Not OK.” We are saying: No to the bullies, the Oligarchs, the Fascists, and the oppressive regimes operating above the law. We are saying yes to strong local communities and yes to a government for the people by the people.

We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors who taught us that kindness is not just a virtue — it is an act of resistance. Compassion is not a weakness — it is our strength. Courageous kindness is contagious. It starts with the tangible acts in local communities. We live in an age of abundance, not scarcity. Together, we are the change we have been waiting for — We care and we share and we organize. We have been given everything we need to strengthen our democratic future rooted in progressive values of justice, equality, and compassion.

The time is now. Let’s build it. Together.

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Dear 🎵 Bridgers 🎵 Goddard is some of the high ground in Singing Bridge — it is 131 acres, located in three towns. Greatwood is the name of the farm and the land that was given to Goddard and stretches across town borders. Greatwood is now becoming a bioregional resilience movement to help strengthen our local communities.