Fulfillment

Democrats believe everyone deserves the Freedom – and has the Responsibility – to reach their full potential in whatever way they want to define it. Some people define this as upward mobility, others as contribution to the community or to one's children. Many see their goals as a combination of these.

There's a clear message we want to communicate to the voters, a message they already know but need to be reminded: the Democratic Party is for people, at any stage of life and in any station in the economy, who feel they can do better, who have goals they have not yet met and dreams still in their future. Democratic policies create the path of upward mobility, and ensure the Freedom to pursue our goals. Those who have no dreams for themselves or the world, who want everything to stay the same, can join the other party.

Today American people and American companies are footloose and nimble. We've rejected the concept of lifetime employment at one firm; it just isn't us. Americans like to move around and change jobs to get ahead, or to work part-time in order to pursue other goals, and companies like the freedom to grow, shrink, and adapt to market conditions. These are good for the economy and good for us, but our institutions need to adapt to this new reality.

One adaptation that has been slow in coming is the evolution of organized labor. The fundamental role of labor unions, to give workers more power in their asymmetric relationship with corporations, is still just as valid today as it was 40 years ago. But changes in the economy have reduced the applicability and influence of unions, so their membership as a percent of the workforce has declined.

Unions were a primary driving force in the creation of the middle class, helping people move up from poverty. Today unions are not meeting this need, and government policy in general is reducing the standard of living of a large fraction of the population. No one wants a repeat of the civil unrest that gave birth to unionism in the first place, but we can see history repeating right in front of us.

It's time for a new legal framework for organized labor, and a new purpose, returning to its primary duty as an advocate for the upwardly mobile worker. Unions should not only negotiate to secure fair wages, but should help each individual negotiate the employment path through life within a trade or profession. This means helping people and jobs find each other; assisting with the procurement of insurance, retirement, and unemployment plans; facilitating networking; developing meaningful ways for workers to compete and be rewarded on the basis of skill and experience (even as they move among companies); and adding value to the workforce by building and certifying practical job skills needed by business through job retraining and lifelong learning.

Right now Federal policy is utterly failing to recognize the need felt by both business and labor to modernize the system of employment benefits, especially health insurance, unemployment, disability, and retirement. The goal is to give business more flexibility and workers more opportunity, but employer-based benefit plans work in the opposite direction. Small businesses, especially, suffer from the administrative burden of benefit plans. It is time to move to an employee-based benefit system, with strong incentives in law for everyone to participate, with large risk pools regardless of employment status. Employees would select their own benefit plans, with help from a reinvigorated organized labor.

Political themes: Democrats represent the upwardly mobile. Organized labor can be reinvigorated by serving workers' mobility needs and adding value to the labor force. Need to move to an employee-based benefits system.