RationalOhio’s Values

There are good, smart people from all walks of life and all sides of the political spectrum, and we must work together despite our differences to safeguard a peaceful and strong nation. There are also manipulators, segregationists and extremists in our society, requiring us to band together to dissuade, vote against and otherwise stop them from harming our diverse society.

Advocating for these values

  • Rational and deliberative thinking
    • Rigorous yet conciliatory debate
    • Continuous learning
    • Considering each side of an argument and a willingness to update opinions or beliefs in light of new evidence.
  • Honorable character and behavior
    • Virtues of patience, tolerance, honesty, dignity, professionalism
    • Honoring your word and taking responsibility for your actions
    • Forgiveness for instances of poor judgement, allowing someone to make up for past mistakes. “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” – Bryan Stevenson
  • Quality education from our schools and universities
    • Prepare students for a sustainable life and productive contribution to society.
    • Science – To better understand our world and our health
    • History – Learn from our mistakes and our accomplishments
    • Language writing and speaking skills, with clear and plain meaning, including English and other prominent languages
    • Understanding other cultures and ways of life
  • Good governance
    • Democracy and the importance of voting and civic engagement
    • Public policy makers should have strong education and professional experience to be qualified to make good decisions.
    • Checks and balances on positions of power or influence
    • Civil rights – people should be able to live the life of their choice if they’re not hurting anyone else, without unnecessary government intervention
    • Fair policies, equal treatment and consistent procedures of government – rooting out double standards and hypocrisy in law making and enforcement.
    • Ethical conduct in government, which provides transparent representation based on policy proposals rather than us-vs-them partisanship.
    • Responsible use of tax payer money
  • Capitalism with moderate regulations
    • Ethical conduct in business, which provides profit for owners and employees and benefits customers without harm to the larger community.
    • The value of a free press for staying informed

Standing against these issues

  • Ideological extremes and polarization
  • Violence against non-violent people
  • Mob mentality
  • Fear mongering
  • Being quick to judgement, especially with incomplete information
  • Personal attacks and mischaracterizations of others’ beliefs
  • Social media memes that largely oversimplify issues or contain false information, or images designed to evoke emotional outrage at the expense of rational analysis
  • Dishonesty and manipulation
  • Reckless hyperbole, exaggerations, jokes or loose language by people in positions of authority, power or influence regarding issues of importance
  • Conspiracy theorizing and unsubstantiated allegations
  • Corruption in business and politics
  • Bullying and online trolling
  • Excessive escapism, including neglectful behavior and drug abuse
  • Gerrymandering and other anti-democracy manipulation
  • Too much concentration of government power in the few over the many

The need for rational discussion based on mutual respect

We cannot take for granted the basic values of decency, fairness and educational advancement. Today there are active threats to the quality of our education system and the safety of our communities, and there are foreign actors who wish to divide and conquer us. America has descended into civil war before, other countries have descended into far worse, and there is no guarantee this will not happen again if we are not vigilant guardians of the values and institutions that keep us moving forward.

Our nation faces many challenges of unrest, uncertainty and divisiveness that we can overcome if we bring calm, reason, compassion and determination to the fore. We can live up to the ideals of a free and fair America if we cherish our brightest minds, our hardest workers, our best innovations, our bravest men and women, and our willingness to work together despite our differences.

Editorial Guidelines

The goal of this site is independent, non-partisan advocacy for bridging divides and building solidarity both locally and nationally. Here you’ll find analysis of events and political candidates through the lens of these values, typically focusing on these goals:

  • Recognize and endorse public figures or organizations who support our values, including rational debate and respecting democracy.
  • Demand that policy makers and influencers are well qualified with relevant educational and professional experience, or with the expert advice of such qualified consultants, when speaking on matters of public importance or when representing constituents.
  • Hold leaders and influencers accountable for the words they say, especially when they are divisive or false, even if they claim to have been sarcastic, joking or rhetorical.
  • Discourage demeaning characterizations of large groups based on stereotypes, such as calling all Democrats lazy or all Republicans racist. We must be more specific with who or what behavior is being criticized, based on factual events and policies rather than sweeping demonization.
  • Move us away from extreme or violent views or policies. Identify what the extremes are, the risks of those views, and advocate for more reasonable positions between the extremes.
  • Uphold the value of a free press and fair democracy, and work against anything that would undermine these. Uphold the ability for people to have rational discussion with one another about any topic based on access to factual reporting.

Because this is an advocacy site and not a news site, our articles are centered around a topic and may be continually updated with new information as it becomes available even after the first published date. Each article is intended to be a reference about that subject rather than only what happened on a given day. New information is marked with dates throughout our content.

We don’t claim to be the only rational voice or to have the only rational conclusion. However, we strongly believe that promoting reasoned discussion and discouraging extremism is very important, and we want to be part of the solution.

If we make a mistake, please post a comment and we will correct any errors or issues with our content. We encourage discussion on our pages, but comments that are especially rude or rely on disreputable sources may be removed.

About RationalOhio.com

This site was started in 2020 to advocate for rational conversation about political and social issues, and to discourage misinformation and tribalism, with a focus on issues affecting Ohioans specifically.

RationalOhio is not affiliated with any organization or political candidate, and is funded by citizens of Ohio.