I know Clinton's remark, "I feel your pain" became a cliché'. However, it also reveals the heart of a true progressive. Our true moral compass is based on the value of empathy. But not just empathy, but empathy with responsibility and the strength to carry out those responsibilities.
Empathy is the first emotion of an infant. It is the basis of our humanity. A baby "attaches" to its mother's face, voice and touch. When the mother is unhappy, the baby becomes irritable. If early attachment is missing, the child becomes empty, hopeless, and often a violent criminal. This is empathy in its purest form. It is the basis of all human interactions. It is the basis of all human morality.
Empathy is so natural that it is instantiated in the neural synapses of our brains. We "reflect" back when we see others in pain and we feel their pain as well. But progressives feel also responsibility to our fellow man to help ameliorate that pain - and we need the strength to carry that out. It is the basis of our nurturant-parent family metaphor and frame.
We believe in using the common wealth of our nation for the common good of all. If I see suffering, I want to help relieve that suffering. If I see poverty and hopelessness, I want to relieve that poverty and hopelessness. Who among us were not horrified and moved watching that video clip of the mother in New Orleans who was trying to revive her dehydrated, feverish, and most likely dying child? While charities and religious organizations can surely help, they are simply too few and too small to make a significant impact. It is our responsibility as humans, as Americans, to use our common wealth to help. That is one of the reasons we institute governments – to promote the common welfare. Look at the preamble to our Constitution. It was written to, “… establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty, to ourselves and our Posterity.”
Our nation was built on the notion of using the common wealth for the common good. We originated as a commonwealth of states. Virginia and Massachusetts still call themselves Commonwealths. We use our tax dollars, our dues as citizens, to build our common infrastructure - roads, the Internet, the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, our national parks, our banking system, our courts, our police and fire departments, etc. It is up to those that benefit the most from this common infrastructure to contribute the most to build and maintain it. Thus, the basis of our progressive tax system.
We believe it takes more than simply obeying the law or following the bible to be a moral person. It takes empathy and responsibility. Am I not my brother's keeper?
Sander Bellman, 2006 ECDA Board Chair
