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“An almost chosen people,
we demonstrate our greatness not by force of might or by virtue of our economic
dominance, but through rigorous moral endeavor, ever striving to remake
ourselves in the image of our ideals. When we have approached true greatness,
we have been great not because we were strong but because we were good.
Fidelity to our national creed remains challenging, but it invests our nation
with spiritual purpose and – if we honor its precepts – a moral
destiny” - Abraham Lincoln
T wo things are most important in forming my political beliefs.
First, regarding morality issues, it is far more important to make sure
that our personal religious beliefs do not overshadow the laws of our
land. Making sure of that also protects all of our rights to worship (or
not) as we see fit in our homes. For many Christians in our nation, the
thought that God AS THEY KNOW IT represents the way all people should
live is part of their faith. It's why they witness and try to spread their
Gospel. But our government was founded on the principle that matters of
faith are private and separate from government. It's fine for those in
government to be informed by their personal faith and live by that faith,
but not to the point that their beliefs overshadow the rights of all Americans
as defined by the constitution. Imagine that you live in a country where
the Taliban is the religious authority and represents the majority of
citizens. Wouldn't you prefer and understand the importance of making
sure that religious views stay out of government legislation, and that
the rights of religious minorities (even Atheists) are protected? Sometimes
simply putting ourselves into the place of the least protected and poorest
minority person, and imagining how the law effects them and gives them
the same protections that it gives the richest and most powerful majority
will help us to understand how laws need to be framed. One of the things
that makes our country great is its idea that all are equal under the
law and have the same protections.
Secondly, regarding "liberal" versus "conservative"
views, from what I have read on the subject, liberal views are consistently
more compassionate towards the greatest number of people. I am part of
a racial minority, I grew up in a low income and a single parent home,
I have been a beneficiary of the food stamp program. I never lived in
extreme poverty, and I was fortunate to be able to attend college partly
because of "liberal" support of those who have less in our country.
Of course these are complex issues, but when I look at Congressional and
Senate voting records I have seen consistently that Democrats vote in
ways that represent my values in far more of the cases than Republicans
do.
There are many different kinds of welfare. Many people are blind to the
millions of dollars in corporate welfare that benefits the wealthiest,
while at the same time they are angered by programs that help the poorest
and neediest people in our country, often considering these programs a
free ride for lazy people who deserve their misfortune. Many conservatives
take the view that society should penalize those families for making bad
choices, and avoid any appearance of handouts to the poor. I believe the
lucky few who are born into priviledge will always have advantages that
no social program that benefits the poor will take away. Many of our wealthiest
families have benifitted greatly from generations of businesses practices
that depend on profitting at the expense of many: both through unfair
labor practices and indescrinimate use and polluting our environment.
The former sucks the life out of the poorest laborers and the latter is
stolen from us and our children and many generations to come.
Once again, let's imagine the poorest, most ignorant parents in a crime
infested low income neighborhood and put ourselves in the place of a child
born into that home. All of our society benefits in making sure that the
poorest families have adequate food, nutrition and the support that can
make a difference between a life of living in the margins and a pathway
out of poverty, even if the benefit is just knowing that you are living
in a compassionate way. I am especially angered that our current tax code
favors those with the greatest wealth and lays much larger burdens on
those whose income is stretched to meet necessities. The percentage of
Federal money that is directed towards social programs is a very small
part of our Federal budget. The widening gap between the rich and the
poor and the ever growing numbers of poor and struggling families point
to inequities in our system that need to be addressed. This is not to
say that government should rob the rich and give it to the poor, but there
are far more equitable ways to share the wealth of our nation, which the
privileged among us have benefited from for generations, often at the
expense of the poorest.
I'd like to be proud of our country and know that we support a standard
of living that reflects our nations wealth and doesn't come at the cost
of poverty around the world. Lately I've seen corporations that make the
rules as they see fit, steal our nations' resources, pollute those they
leave behind, take huge profits, pay few taxes, and squeeze their workers
for as many hours at as little pay as they can. Many businesses pay their
corporate officers exorbitant salaries and bonuses while most of their
employees lack health care and struggle to make ends meet. I'd like to
see our political administration force corporations to be responsible
entities and take away the concessions that give them powers beyond those
of the individuaks and communities that they operate among. And I want
our government to help even the least of our citizens a fighting chance
to live a life of quality before it supports corporate welfare.
Progressive Economics: A Field Guide
(Note: if you have come directly to this page from the internet, please
click here for the complete resource.)
Introduction
Is there such a thing as a distinctively Progressive economics? We believe
so — just as there is also a distinctively corporate economics.
For example, in the lens of corporate economics, people are just one more
resource to be exploited. Labor is just one more expense, its cost to
be minimized to the maximum extent possible, or eliminated outright. In
a Progressive perspective, meaningful work is among the prerequisites
of a good life. Progressives believe that most of the value that derives
from the work of the individual should benefit that individual, not "shareholders,"
not CEOs (who are no more, and no less, than one more employee). In the
lens of corporate economics, the environment is simply a source of profits
to be reaped, and environmental costs to be shirked. In a Progressive
perspective, the environment is finite, the source of some of the most
rewarding and enjoyable experiences a human being can have, and a resource
to be protected for the generations yet to come. In a corporate perspective,
communities count for nothing, and business siting is purely a matter
of finding the lowest possible costs and greatest opportunity to pollute.
In a Progressive perspective, communities have intrinsic human value,
and corporations who derive their very lifeblood from them also have obligations
toward them. In a corporatist perspective, the corporation has no responsibility
to community of any kind (and, indeed, no purpose of any kind whatsoever,
other than the generation of profit for shareholders and corporate officers),
and therefore, if costs can be offloaded to the community, they should
be.
I was able to find a lot of non-partisan information about the issues
affecting our nation on a website called The
American Voice 2004 From their website: American Voice 2004 was launched
to fill a need, the need for reasoned debate. The bedrock of good government
is an informed citizenry. An informed citizenry comes from hearing both
sides of the issue. American Voice 2004 intends to be a place which cultivates
good citizenship. The American Voice 2004 is a project of the Institute
for Local Self-Reliance. What is the Institute
for Local Self-Reliance? The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
is a 30 year old non profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington,
D.C. and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its mission is to strengthen geographical
communities. To fulfill that mission ILSR offers research, technical assistance
and a library of "rules" that foster local self-reliance. Strong
communities depend on an active and involved population. The American
Voice 2004 strives to nurture such a population by providing substantive
and reasoned information regarding national issues.
For a breakdown of votes by Republicans and Democrats on many issues,
click here.
Want to read more about Progressive Political Thinking? Click
Here
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