DU: What are our Shared beliefs?

[StClone]

In 2001 I found DU (and before that BartCop). Over nearly a decade of reading and posting, I have some sense of what true DUers hold dear. Have those general beliefs ever been distilled into, for lack of better terms, a Manifesto, Bible or Bill of Rights?

For instance my starting core beliefs, though not eloquently nor legally written, are listed below in order. These are building blocks of what I feel are a given for people of the World in general and Citizens of the United States specifically.


My list goes:


1. Equality. Equality regardless sex, color, nationality, Religion, sexual orientation... etc. The ERA was never ratified.


2. Sustainable environment practices. But how to frame this idea is difficult.


3. Every person deserves access to the best education available.


4. Health Care for all as a Right.




Any DUer want to flesh out these ideas and add the myriad of other concerns from Corporate Personage, Taxation, Gun Rights to Legalizing Drug use and the like? I would believe we here at DU could outline and distill a Document outlining our shared believes. Any DUer could sign on, or challenge the beliefs, as to make it a living Document.

DU unified behind stated beliefs could give us a stronger voice.

So DUers what are our shared beliefs and do we want to set them down to words?

[Robb]

1. The Devil lies in the details

Shared beliefs among Democrats are best left as broad as possible. ;)

[StClone]

4. That was one of my ideas against such a list

That the DU board in fact is constantly changing and defining (redefining) as experience, information and facts come to light regarding our belief system.

[blondeatlast]

23. Mitch McConnell is a yucky man. "Yucky" is of course subjective. nt

[virgogal]

2. Unions-----collective bargaining and a fair,liveable wage.

[Romulox]

13. Weren't you just bragging on your Corolla?

I guess you mean some unions... :shrug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7636138#7636158

[virgogal]

15. Yeah I was-----sorry. The price was right. By the way,it was

my first foreign car so fifty-five years of buying American has got to count for something.

My grocery store and pharmacy are non-union chains also. What can you do?

[Romulox]

19. So...support unions unless the "price is right"? Non-union labor is always cheaper.

:hi:

[virgogal]

22. And getting by on Social Security makes one count every penny.

Sometimes we have to compromise----that's life.

[Romulox]

24. OK. But why are YOU the only one who gets to save money by going with the Scab made product?

Your support for Unions seems to be...ahem...a bit self-serving. You want the cred, but none fo the hard work, it seems. I'm sure it's your union (or that of one of you or yours) that you meant we should support.

The rest of us are on our own, apparently. :eyes:

[Brickbat]

27. The 2006 Corolla, if it was made in the U.S., was made in a UAW plant.

The one that's closing.

[Brickbat]

26. Not on this board. There are plenty who make excuses for not supporting unions or who say "unions

were useful back in the early days but not now" and so on.

[Political Heretic]

30. That's not even close to a shared DU belief. I promise you that.

[NYC_SKP]

3. My own is, "Leave the World a Better Place".

Anyone here is welcome to join me.

:P

[Betty Karlson]

5. Difference is strength

We are different from the Freepers in that we allow ourselves to disagree, even on major issues. Because we believe that through challenge and difference, our own points of view will be sharpened and improved.

[Political Heretic]

31. It's working out so well for us too.

:eyes:

Big tent only goes so far.

EDIT - Actually I take that back - as far as DU the forum goes, I agree with you. A major part of the reason I post here is because so many people disagree with me, and it helps me refine my thinking.

So that goes with what you said.

But when it comes to political parties, we need to find agreement in the essentials and freedom in the non-essentials.

Right now there's no sense that the Democratic Party has any notion of what "essentials" would be - pillar positions that define one as a Democrat. There's freedom in everything so that Democrat literally means next to nothing.

[Political Heretic]

33. .

wrong place.

[FSogol]

6. How about getting broader with:

A. The ability to see things from others viewpoints.
B. Compassion
C. A lack of selfishness
D. An open mind
E. A charitable nature

[cleveramerican]

7. Arrange public policy to benefit the citizenry.

is all I would add.

[TomClash]

8. A fairer distribution of wealth

Warren and Bill and their friends and les hautes fonctionnaires can cough up some cash for the cause.

[Fixed_Based_Operator]

32. How should it be distributed?

The children in poverty get the first cut right?

[TomClash]

36. How about ensuring that people have a living wage . . .

. . . instead of just relying on the "market" to set wages?

[Echo In Light]

9. Anti-war is #1 - and I agree w/your list

[enlightenment]

10. While all of those broad ideals are excellent, I have to agree with

those that have posted before me - I don't think a unified 'front' is all that helpful, and I reject rather vehemently the concept of a manifesto, bible, or bill of rights (recognizing that you were searching for a way of expressing the idea). Even a 'statement of purpose' is a bit strong.

My granny used to say that she had "no morals - but a whole lot of scruples". When I asked her to clarify the difference, she said that (for her) morals were things that society told her she should embrace. Scruples were things that she had decided to embrace after examining them and deciding for herself that they were important. She probably had more scruples than most people have morals . . . but they were hers by choice and not because somebody wrote them down and handed them to her - or just told her that was what she was supposed to believe.

I've always liked that philosophy - I think most liberals do, even if they express it some other way.

[Greyhound]

11. That the common good is superior to private profit.

That all people are equal, period.

If we can't agree on this, we're nowhere.

[me b zola]

35. This is a very important principle, imo

~and it used to be that many republicans used to understand this concept, but now they reject this fact. Even Henry Ford understood that you have to pay fair wages to workers to buy your goods. When we allow poisoning of our planet, water, and food supplies we are hurting ourselves.

This principle cannot be overstated.

[Greyhound]

43. Believe it or not, there used to be a creature known as "a liberal republican" long ago.

I know it sounds like a myth, but I grew up around a few of them, so I can attest first hand that they did once exist.
:fistbump:

[Romulox]

12. Without economic justice, I don't see what the rest of these "shared beliefs" amount to...

:shrug:

[Brickbat]

28. Agreed.

[TheKentuckian]

14. Economic justice, civil rights/equality, counterbalancing corporate influence

towards the people, and leaving a better world than we inherited.

I have no use for any people who do not subscribe to such ideals in general much less sharing a party with them.

[mochajava666]

16. How about the belief that a society is ultimately judged

by how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members? Too vague?

[RoccoR5955]

17. Read my tagline.

The whole thing comes from my favorite Science Fiction show of all time, Babylon 5.
It goes like this, "Understanding is a three-edged sword. There's your side, his side, and the TRUTH!" --Captain John Sheridan, Babylon 5

[fire_in_the_middle]

18. hey been working on this idea but i need more input on how to run a better system.

Here is a prototype of when i had the idea, mind you these are my opinions. I would welcome further input and those who would work together to assemble this " living document " that StClone has spoken about. I welcome mail about it, lets get together and figure out a way to help fix this mess. If enough people are about it, then the administration has to listen. Obama wants support? Lets give it to him. A unified voice of the working labor base of america is impossible to ignore.



I have been getting stuck. I mean, it took several of the founding fathers to write the Declaration of Independance.



The Declaration of Equality


When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to dissolve those barriers which separate human station into parties of politics, gender, religion, creed, or race, we must do so with respect to the boundaries of mutual interest; for in absoloute fairness, we are endowed with qualities and needs, both human and non-human.
It is recognized that providence, indeed, comes from nature, and so to it shall all return, in its due course. So then, in the interest of the harmonius life of the human race upon this diverse planet Earth, we ought operate within the confines in awareness of our effect upon the Earth, and its many life-forms. To do otherwise, as we have done in the past, is to destroy that very thing which supports us, feeds us, and in general sustains our lives. In the respect of this balance of life, it is our right, and our duty as sentient and self-aware living beings to uphold and protect the Sacred Rights and equality of all living things.
In our human history, inequity, greed and favoritism have been responsible for the acts of oppression, war, gross annihilation of the Sacred Rights equal among living things, both human and non-human. Acts of these choices have resulted in the death, torture and abuse of living beings and groups of living beings. These were commited in the perception of being in Power, and dominant above other beings, having the privelidge and right to do so.
So then, in recognition of the boundaries and principles in respect to Absoloute Fairness, the Sacred Rights of Living beings ought be stated and outlined as by agreement of the Will of the People. These are, respectively, the right to opinion, free speech, shelter, food and water, medicine and health care, general education, artistic expression, and by virtue of life, the right being recognized as having influence upon the choices that affect the whole of the living. In order to establish such precepts as operational principle, the old system of governments and resource management systems must first be abolished and rendered extinct.
Interest of the Commonwealth of the Living, indeed shall become the ruling authority; systems of currency and property law shall be rearranged and amended until rendered effective for the interest of the Commonwealth.


please mail me at [e-mail].

I welcome positive, constructive input. Accusations and negatvity will be ignored.

Much love for all,

~fire_in_the_middle



p.s.~ lets turn that pyramid upside down.

[MissMarple]

20. The health of a democratic republic is tied to the strength and vitality of its middle classes.

Understanding that helps everything else fall into place...in theory.

And war, it will always be with us. Maybe we can reduce it to police actions and avoid the decimation of large populations of noncombatants. Humans will always find something to fight about. How you do something is about as important as what you do. It greatly impacts the quality of the product.

[90-percent]

21. a few

justice, fairness, generosity, empathy, reason, truth, intelligence, honesty

jim

[Romulox]

25. 1) "Free Trade"; 2) Bankster Bailouts; 3) SURGE! into Afghanistan

4) Support my union (but I ain't supporting yours!)

Did I miss any?

[leftstreet]

39. 5) Mandated Insurance Payments

[Romulox]

41. Yes, precisely! And 6) Let's not forget WAR ON DRUUUUUGGGGS! (victory is just around the corner!)

[Political Heretic]

29. None of the things you listed are "shared" DU beliefs and that's the problem

I don't think there are any shared beliefs.

Take any issue, and there will be sects of DU that will fight about it.

[lumberjack_jeff]

37. Although we'd choose different examples, this is accurate.

The prevailing view is

We believe in equality... except we want girls to continue to get most of the education and boys to continue to suffer most of the violence.
We believe in environmental sustainability... except we vigorously defend the lithium mines which power our Priuses.
We believe in healthcare as a human right... except the current 50,000 deaths a year is a small price to pay to encourage people to accept HR676.
We believe that everyone deserves the best education available... except see #1 above. Boys can be truckdrivers.

These aren't outlying opinions, it's the stuff I regularly get shouted down about.

My recent problem here is that I am finding it very hard to see past the dichotomies. We justify our prejudices by wrapping ourselves in the flag of its exact opposite. Hypocrisy isn't quite right because it implies self interest consciously trumping principles. In our case, we simply see our prejudices as righteous.

[Political Heretic]

34. Should be: prioritize needs of working class families ahead of the whims of the financial elite

..when it comes to policy.

[Therellas]

38. 2. Sustainable environment practices. But how to frame this idea is difficult.

it is difficult to people in "developed" countries to hear.
and by "developed" i mean overweight and detached.

[JoeyT]

40. I think it's less that we all agree on a shared set of goals

and more that we all happen to have goals that overlap at some point or another.
I've yet to see something put forward here that at least one person won't step up and defend.
We're not really a block, we're a large constellation of slightly overlapping circles.

Though I agree with 1-4, and I'm sure most other people do too, the devil is in the details. Take #3 for instance: There have been many fights between people that support public education and the proponents of charter schools here. Both support the best education available, they just have radically different ideas on what that means. The arguments over how to accomplish 1 and 4 have been even more heated.

I'm sure if we made the list nebulous enough, we could find a whole lot of things that we agree with even the craziest of freepers on. It just wouldn't be those 4 things.

[AngryAmish]

42. 5. Republicans are soulless cannibals who crave human flesh