The public government’s moral mission is to protect and empower the people, its wealth creators. MAGA heads say no. You’re on your own.
Regulations must be reframed as protections.1 Protection and empowerment are a form of wealth, which is a form of well-being. We, the people, are wealth creators, both private and public wealth. Consequently, we must protect and empower each other, to protect our wealth and well-being. Elected representatives have a collaborative moral mission to protect and empower wealth creators. That’s us. You and me. Ethical elected representatives collaborate with America's strong, diverse communities of nurturing family wealth creators in and out of civil society organizations, ethical businesses, and public government. That’s why empathy is, as Presidents Barack Obama2 and Joe Biden,3 the soul of our nation.
Our collaborative moral mission is based on empathy, the soul of democracy. MAGA heads say no. You’re on your own.
Regulations must be reframed as public protections. Our collaborative moral mission is most effective when we all govern all aspects of our lives with empathy for and responsibility to one another. That moral mission to human wealth creators is such a big deal that after World War II, the people of the United Nations, who defeated fascism, created an organization with the same name in 1945. Three years later, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN encapsulated all of their declared human rights with their founding commitment to the values of empathy in Article 1 and responsibility in Article 29. The people of the world were offered a choice between a politics of care or cruelty. Reframing regulations to protections helps solidify their legacy and our duty to care.
Our effectiveness at promoting a politics of care is based on the strength of our commitment to our duty to care. MAGA heads want a politics of cruelty. No win-wins.
Regulations must be reframed as public protections. Effective care in all walks of life produces a societal empathy surplus. A failure to commit to our duty to care4 for one another is an act of corruption and has contributed to our empathy deficit. Once you know that you have a duty to care for others, you have a moral obligation to commit to that duty. And the first act of commitment to our duty to care is to commit to human rights education in your centers of influence, i.e., family, faith community, school, work, civil society, and public government. Therefore, reframing regulations to public protection reminds us of our moral duty to care.
Effective anti-corruption efforts begin with a commitment to pro-empathy governance. MAGA heads want to steal our Social Security.
The corruption of our moral mission to a politics of care is so pervasive that in 2000 the UN Economic and Social Council named “anti-corruption of government” as one of the ten principles5 of its Global Compact, the largest business human rights initiative in the world. However, unethical businesses continue to run and ruin human lives all over the world. They do so by stealing our wealth creators' moral mission and framing public protections as regulation. And MAGA heads are at the tip of the empathy corruption spear. They always say they want fewer protections and less democracy. Now House Congressional MAGA heads are poised to dismantle Medicare and Social Security.6 Framing public protection efforts as regulations versus public protections hide unethical business efforts to dismantle the public protections for wealth creators. MAGA heads don’t want effective pro-empathy governance. Fascism is what they really want.
Reframing IS social change. Progressives must demand protection for all Americans from MAGA heads.
Reframing IS social change. Progressives in all political parties must reframe to protect our democracy and fulfill our wealth-creator moral mission. Progressives can and must actually change our language and demand public protection. Progressives can demand public protectors versus regulators. Progressives can demand public protection agencies versus regulatory agencies. Progressives can link public protections to public health and safety infrastructure. Progressives can remind others that public protection strengthens all Americans. Progressives can demand public protections that create progressive markets filled with ethical businesses. Progressives can demand public protections that eliminate the theft of public funds by unethical businesses when they cheat and don’t pay their taxes. Progressives of any political party can REFRAME and protect democracy because it’s our moral duty.
Will we?
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own and do not reflect any endorsement of candidates or ballot initiatives of the Empathy Surplus Project Foundation DBA Empathy Surplus Network USA.
Lakoff, George, Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, Chapter 12, Regulation and the Environment, p. 210-221, 1996, 2002, The University of Chicago Press
Obama, Barack, Candidate for President, 3-minute YouTube clip from Speech to Planned Parenthood
President Joe Biden, 2022, 2nd Speech on the Soul of the Nation, 1 minute Youtube clip on empathy https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxmRJRlNahz_h2h3gVGlnssLbTAFNXOWrb
United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 29 - The Duty to Care, We all have a human right to expect care from each other, https://www.humanrights.com/course/lesson/articles-26-30/read-article-29.html
United Nations Global Compact Ten Principles, http://bit.ly/UNGC10p
The Hill, Article outlining GOP discussing “sunsetting” Medicare and Social Security, 10/21/22, https://thehill.com/reliable-voters/3685373-house-gop-takes-cautious-path-in-push-to-strengthen-social-security-medicare/