What exactly are the philosophical underpinnings of

[malaise]

the Democratic Party - nothing happens until that is resolved. What is it that Democrats believe?

[derby378]

1. Near as I can figure, we used to be the party of labor

We need to embrace that again. Nobody's saying we have to give up on civil rights - but women, minorities, and the GLBT community deserve good jobs.

[malaise]

3. That's a good start

What are the other core principles?

[H2O Man]

2. Recommended

There are obviously serious divisions within the party. I agree 100% that we should attempt to resolve those -- at least to the point where we can communicate without hostility -- before we attempt anything else.

[malaise]

4. Precisely

There is no moving forward until these issues are settled - so nice to see you back

[Adrahil]

5. Well, we published a platform.

I am mostly on board with that platform.

[malaise]

6. A platform is not a philosophical belief n/t

[Adrahil]

10. I'm not sure I see the point.

Government is about doing things... accomplishing things collectively. A platform expresses what we, as Democrats, want the government to do.

If someone wants to boil that down to a mission statement, fine, but I doubt that will swing any votes.

[TXCritter]

12. Great start

I was always taught that the Dems were about strong, centralized government and the Reps were about localized government and a weak central government.

I don't think either party represents either of these ideals anymore but I might offer this;

"We believe that government run by reason, logic and reliable data can produce effective positive value to society. We reject the idea that some ideas are too big or complex to understand or solve. We accept that we may lack the knowledge and data to solve such problems at this time but we are committed to gathering that knowledge until such problems can be understood and solved."

[Kingofalldems]

7. I say go back to FDR for economic philosophy.

He was only the best president in the 20th century.

[malaise]

9. +1,000

The problem is what went down at Bretton Woods which set the stage for the Friedman/Hayek neo-liberal thinking. The party's intellectuals should have seen the contradictions between the New Deal and the approach that won when they established the IMF. That eventually became the 'Washington Consensus Model' of the 1990s - (devalue - privatize), deregulate, divest - and make the state the engine of growth for the corporations. Fuck the poor.

You can't stand for labor and promote and enforce that model overseas without expecting it to come home.

You can't believe in democracy at home and self interest and exceptionalism overseas

[First Speaker]

8. How about FDR's "Economic Bill of Rights" as a start...?

...that's never gotten as much attention as the Four Freedoms, but the Dems should use that as their bedrock. Get the old tape of FDR enunciating them, and make it as famous as his Pearl Harbor speech. Show how reasonable and optimistic it is, and also, maybe we can move the Constitutional narrative away from right-wing "libertarianism".

[malaise]

11. it would be a great start if so may Dems

weren't neo-liberals

[TXCritter]

13. The six basic needs

In nature, every animal needs four basic things to remain competitive and survive. Those four things are

Air
Water
Food
Shelter

Thus, these four areas are areas that we must recognize as areas deserving of public/government protection. We must guarantee, as a society that air is clean and free; water is clean & accessible; food is nutritious and accessible; and shelter is secure, available and accessible to every citizen.

As human beings we live in a natural environment and our bodies share those same four needs. As human beings we ALSO live and strive in an economic system that serves our mental and spiritual needs. To be competitive in that system citizens also need two more things;

Education
Health care

Without these things, no human can be competitive in our society. Thus, education and health are areas deserving of public/government protection. We must guarantee, as a society, that health care and education are accessible to all citizens at all times of their lives.