Ties that bind: the beliefs and values of Oregon

Carla Axtman

I'm a rather ardent and vocal evangelist when it comes to my love of Oregon. I can't help it. I think we're awesome. Not only is our state beautifully geographically diverse, the people here are generally wonderful. No matter where I travel in Oregon, I find friendly, helpful people who are connected to the land, their communities and to one another. In other words, Oregon is home.

Recently, The Oregon Values & Beliefs Project released a new survey of Oregonians that provides some fascinating information into our collective state psyche. It's a huge amount of information and I haven't finished taking it all in. But the main idea I've found so far? Oregonians across the state have way more similarities than differences when it comes to our values.

Here are some of the big findings:

First of all, we REALLY consider education to be of paramount importance. 81% of us say that it's a top priority, especially K-12. Even more of us (86%), believe that taxes are necessary to pay for the common good, but we don't think the tax system here is fair (63%) and that it needs to be simplified and straight forward (78%).

But a real stunner? Even as Oregon is still working to climb out of an economic malaise, 57% of us consider environmental protections more important than economic growth. I very much hope that each person who reads these survey results takes a big highlighter to that section and mails it to their state legislators and to the Governor's office. We want robust environmental protections in this state, even if it means the economy won't grow as fast. That's a big deal.

Finally, we don't love the prison system that locks people up and throws away the key. 66% of us want to see criminals rehabilitated through counseling and job training whenever possible. Is this a door to a new conversation about reversing Measure 11?

Next time you hear politicians or pundits touting the "urban-rural" divide in Oregon, show them this survey. We're all Oregonians and we're in this together. Our values reflect that.

By Carla Axtman Oct. 10, 2013