Open Letter to My Representatives, Part 1: Basic Needs, Children, Human Dignity

Dear Representative:

We can’t have a democracy when citizens are so frustrated that they give up on politics. We can have a democracy when we agree to work together, when we set down civil rules of engagement, follow them fairly, and agree to work in good faith toward a common vision. I’m writing this letter to you in that good faith – because I feel that my values and the values I share with many friends and family members are often drowned out in the yelling, editorializing, and grandstanding that pass for debate today. I still believe in the possibility and potential of the United States of America, and until further notice these are the values I find most important in our democratic experiment. Yesterday, I provided an overview of the three values below, along with several additional commitments. 

I want to be clear: I’m not just complaining here – and I’m definitely not dreaming up hopelessly utopian possibilities. I’ll share what I believe, and also back up my ideas with strong data. Many of my values are expressed in today’s politics as contradictory or mutually exclusive. For example, I believe in business; I believe in capitalism; I believe in universal health care; I believe in protecting the environment. These are absolutely not contradictory positions, and I’ll explain why.  

I believe in the power of ensuring everyone has access to food, shelter, and basic health care.

These inputs - food, shelter, basic health care - affirm fundamental human dignity and provide a person with the foundation necessary to work and to work well. There are strong economic reasons for supporting each person's access to these basics. Better health care leads to better productivity on the job. The National Poverty Center estimates children raised in dire poverty cost the nation more than $500 billion in foregone earnings, poor health, and other challenges.

These children, who are born full of potential yet who in the study I link to above are connected to severe economic costs for our nation, most frequently live with parents who work hard and try to do well by them. But our current low minimum wages, high costs of health care, and high costs of childcare do not leave parents in a situation that allows them to look after their children well, which brings me to my next point.    

I believe that all parents should have time to raise their children, spend time with their loved ones, and see their children flourish as they grow into adults.

I'm not looking for miracles, what I am looking for is smart policy interventions and moral leadership. In terms of policy I'm talking about social programs that support adults' ability to find work that pays well enough to allow them to still have some time with their children. Related policy interventions, for example, include:

• affordable educational programs that allow adults to re-train as the economy shifts, so they can secure well-remunerated work; 
• once again, health care, so that adults actually can switch sectors or take entrepreneurial risks as the economy shifts; 
• increases in the minimum wage, which has consistently lost real value since the late 1970s. 

I know there are numerous critics of the minimum wage, who suggest that increases in the minimum are bad for the economy. If that were definitively true, however, we would see the worst state economies in the United States in Washington and Oregon, which have the first and second highest minimums in the US. We do not, of course, see that. Furthermore, our collective reluctance to invest seriously in worker re-training programs coupled with avoidance of good remuneration for American workers willing to develop new skills has led to a situation in which over 25 percent of US imports come from nations with higher wages and living standards than our own (See Schwartz, The Future of Democratic Equality, p117, working there primarily with data from Eamonn Fingleton, "Unsustainable," in The American Prospect).

If the plain facts of Washington and Oregon's economies don't clarify the value of the minimum wage; if getting more than 25 percent of our imports from nations with higher wages and living standards doesn't demonstrate the importance of good training programs and health care to promote mobility across sectors; and if the data on the economic value of health care and getting children out of poverty is not persuasive for you, then I default to what really drives my beliefs mentioned above: I believe in fundamental human dignity and equal moral worth.  

That is, I agree with the sentiment expressed variously by Churchill, Truman, Pope John Paul II, and many others but seemingly originating in Matthew 25:41-46. A society will be judged by how it treats its members who are facing the greatest challenges. Are we helping those who are hungry, thirsty, in need of shelter, imprisoned, or sick? Supporting every individual's right to flourish through education and meeting basic needs happens to make boatloads of economic sense, but fortunately for us - and more importantly - it is also the right thing to do.

For today, this is all I have time to share. Like many Americans, I juggle a few work and family commitments, but we all have civic commitments too - and I'm trying to meet mine. I'll continue this letter this week. For now, when you vote, when you face lobbyists, when you write laws, please remember that not all of us are in the room. And many, many, many Americans do strongly support  efforts to meet basic needs, move wages high enough to allow parents to support and spend time with children, and make other policy choices that reflect a thorough commitment to common human dignity.

Thank you for your time. In the days that come I'll expand on the value of moral leadership; why our principles of democratic government are better than China's; the value of business, capitalism, government, and nuance; environmental protections, and the valuable experiment in appreciating diversity that is the United States. Again, thanks for taking the time to hear my perspective. If you have any response, I'd love to read and/or share it.

**********************************************************************************
If you agree with the sentiments expressed above and in the overview, please re-tweet, re-post, or email the content to others. If you disagree or have thoughts to add, please add those thoughts below in the comments section. If you'd like to be notified of future posts, simply put your email address in the box on the right. Most importantly, if you agree and would like to share this content with your representatives, please do so! You can confirm your representatives' identities and contact information at Project Vote Smart. Thanks for reading. And, regular readers - I realize I'm a bit behind on responding to a couple good points or questions. I'll return to that following this project. Thanks for your patience.