In 2022, Democrats need to focus on values, not policies
Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash
I recently checked out the 2020 Democratic Platform. I admit, I only got through one page. The entire document is 92 pages. I managed to get through the section titled Healing the Soul of America.
This seemed to me the most likely place to find the values of the Democratic party. There is a lot of “we believe” stuff in there, but it was a long slog. And I didn’t see anything resembling a list of basic values. What I did find was far too wordy, far too detailed, and mostly a pipe dream. Why? Because they’ve been saying these things for years and so far haven’t managed to do any of them.
It’s one thing to want to change something, it’s another to gather the support and build the momentum to do it.
In my decades of corporate work, where my focus was breaking down silos and encouraging people with varying viewpoints to work together for the benefit of all, I can sum up what I learned in one sentence:
Meaningful change requires building trust.
That means starting with values—not policies, not priorities, and definitely not specific rules or processes (or, in the case of government, laws, regulations or lofty promises).
If you want people to join a cause, they need to know the basic value system you are committing to. They don’t need details. Details get in the way, in fact. You don’t need to demonstrate your knowledge of the facts or cite specific laws or even outline your priorities.
People want to know the value system that guides you. They need to know if they can trust you.
The word “values” does not appear in the table of contents of the 2020 Democratic Platform, it isn’t in any of the headings, and the website has no search bar, so I couldn’t search for it. I did find 4,878 words dedicated to Healing the Soul of America.
This is just one of many sections in the platform which includes several sub-sections as well. All describe long and overly detailed accounts of what Dems want to do, which laws they’ll support and which laws they’ll fight. They cite specific legislation, court cases, and on, and on, and on.
They list, separately, every known category of American including LGBTQ+, Indigenous People, People with Disabilities and more. Under each category they include a detailed description of how the party platform will support them, specifically.
We value human rights.
That’s it, that’s the value. We can extrapolate from that to create a million different scenarios, but none of that needs to be spelled out. Why do they need 2,622 words to explain what they mean by human rights? (And that’s just one sub-section of the 4,878 words devoted to our souls.)
Has anybody read it?
Civil rights are human rights, women’s rights are human rights, racial justice and equality is a human right, protecting disabled persons means protecting their human rights. Showing respect and dignity to Native Americans and providing them with the same human rights we demand for ourselves is also a human right.
Everything they say in 2,622 words is covered in one simple sentence—We value human rights.
Nobody can make promises that involve passing specific legislation without losing credibility. But if we stick to values, and consistently apply them, that will show the American people we know what democracy means and we will fight for it.
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Here is a list of sub-headings under Healing the Soul of America. To make my point, I’ve included the number of words in each section. I read them all, but honestly, it was like reading the fine print of a banking contract.
Honoring Indigenous Tribal Nations - 1,533 words. What does this even mean? Give them an award? Talk about them with reverence?
This section begins with a diatribe about what we owe Native Americans and how badly they’ve been treated. If what they are trying to say is that we need to do better by people we’ve historically shit on, I agree 100%. But that’s a priority that falls under human rights. It’s not a separate value. The value is protecting human rights.
I’m also a little tired of the pontificating Dems are so fond of. Verbalizing your outrage is not a substitute for action. Let’s focus a little more on making things happen and a little less on trying to win people over by telling them what they want to hear.
Ending the Epidemic of Gun Violence – 1,658 words. I too believe children have a basic human right to go to school without having to hide from a shooter. But we can’t promise we’ll end the epidemic of gun violence. Until Republicans are willing to work with us (or we achieve a greater Democratic majority in Congress) we will never succeed at this.
We value human life over individual freedoms when said freedoms threaten lives. (And by lives we mean those already born—just to be clear.)
Now that's a value. It’s also the reason we have a mask mandate and most of us care enough about others to wear one when requested. This is how we put ourselves in stark contrast to Donald Trump. Stop with the Trump bashing. He values money and individual freedoms over human life. (But we don’t need to say that because everybody already knows it.)
Ending violence against women - 1,368 words. Violence against anybody is an infringement of their human rights. Again, this is a priority, not a value and it’s also something we cannot promise.
Supporting Faith and Service – 1,606 words. Why does the government need to support faith? Isn’t that a personal choice? When they describe this in detail (way too much detail) they do their usual Trump bashing then follow with “It will be the policy of the Democratic Administration to advocate for religious freedom throughout the world.”
We can’t even deliver religious freedom in America, and now we’re committed to advocating for it “around the world”?
How about we start by eliminating prayer breakfasts that consistently enshrine the Christian faith in our government? That might be a good start in halting discrimination against people of different faiths.
We are free to believe what we want, but not to force it on others as part of our political system. This is what “separation of church and state” really means.
It’s not just the freedom to practice our own beliefs, it’s the freedom to operate without being required to participate in someone else’s religious rituals.
Phrased as a value statement, it would read: We value religious freedom and do not promote any religions by incorporating them into our laws, governmental processes, or institutions.
Supporting Press Freedom – 122 words. Where is the value that aligns with this claim of support? There is nothing in this section that touches on the responsibility of the press to represent facts and to refrain from publishing lies—even when they know they are publishing lies.
Here is the one way to phrase this as a value:
We value freedom of the press but assert that with it comes the responsibility to tell the truth as it is known at the time.
Finally, Supporting the Arts & Culture. Valued at a mere 129 words. How is this a Democratic value? I know a lot of Republicans who loved Cats.
Seriously, if what they are trying to say is that we value culture and the arts as part of a foundation of education, then say it!
We also need to call out the value of teaching history. We cannot avoid the mistakes of the past if we are not brutally honest about them—regardless of how it makes us feel.
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Add up all the words in this one section of the 2020 Democratic Platform, Healing the Soul of America, and it comes to a whopping 4,878 words. And all of it can be summed up in a values statement of 129 words (including the heading).
Democratic Values
We value the tenets of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.
We value human rights, for all. Including the right to:
· Education
· Healthcare
· Nutritious food
· Housing
· Clean water
· Clean air
We value human life over individual freedom when said freedom threatens life.
We value religious freedom and we do not advocate promoting any religions by incorporating them into our laws, governmental processes, or institutions.
We value freedom of the press but assert that with it comes the responsibility to tell the truth as it is known at the time.
We value Art and Culture as a fundamental part of our collective education.
We value the necessity of facing our history in an honest way so that we might avoid in the future the mistakes of the past.
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This is what I’d like to see on the front page of the next Democratic party platform. For the geeks and political elite, all the other stuff can go somewhere else.
If we want to bring people in, let’s tell them what we value. If they agree with our values, they will support our cause.
And isn’t that the goal?