Community responsibility to itself

We make an important distinction between personal responsibility and organizational responsibility. Voluntary personal responsibility and freedom go together because of our belief in self-discipline and the conscience. We do not ascribe these attributes to corporations and governments, because these organizations diffuse responsibility over a large number of people.

Our public and private organizations have a public trust, to operate efficiently and effectively in response to all of their stakeholders, and to be honest and open. We trust and rely heavily on the competitive marketplace, but we don't believe in its omnipotence. Dishonesty and lack of transparency undermine the effectiveness of competition. We don't want competition to be based on who can lie the best.

When politicians allow their corporate contributors to get away with lying or stealing from the public, or gaining an unfair competitive advantage, it tells us that they do not truly believe in the free market, that they are unwilling to defend it. Democrats insist on systems of governance and oversight that can detect and punish corporate crime. To fail to do so discredits the value of responsibility.

Democrats support protection of the environment for its own sake, not merely for economic or public health reasons, as important as they are. We value all life on the planet, all of God's creation. Recognizing the importance of balance in all things, we support intelligent processes to minimize the conflict between economic and environmental values. However, once a species is extinct, no economic process can bring it back.

Our system of government relies on special interest groups to advocate for their constituents, to gather and process information to aid decision making. However, our politicians must not allow special interest arguments, money, or threats to distract them from their values, or forget about the parts of the population that are not represented by interest groups. This is a matter of strength. Voters look for this clear vision and commitment to values; it's part of the reason people voted for Bush in spite of their disagreement with many of his policies.

Democrats encourage innovation and experimentation in government policy, and measurement of the outcome. This is why many Democrats went along with 1980s efforts at privatization and deregulation. However, government policies do tend to take on a life of their own unless politicians are strong enough to kill the ones that don't work. Now that Reagan-era policies have had their 20 years of testing, it's time for triage, to purge what hasn't worked. The Republicans' monopoly on power for the last few years is the last best chance for many Reagan concepts. There are no more excuses, and soon the triage will have to begin.

Overall, the community's responsibility to itself is to build a better future, to increase society's capital through research, education, investment, and conservation; and to leave as few problems and as little debt as possible to future generations. By this measure we have never seen a less responsible government than we have right now.

Political themes: Belief in competition means defense of the level playing field. Responsibility of honesty and openness in business and government. Protection of the environment for its own sake. Strength to resist special interests and discard obsolete policies. Responsibility to our children and the future.