Abstract

Take Back Values

The author argues that growing social and economic inequalities and the emphasis on free market competition have led to culture of cheating in the United States, and discusses what the Democrats can do to become the party of values. There is much talk about "values" on this year's presidential campaign trail. Some Democrats, notably John Edwards, have attempted to move the values debate onto home turf by couching the liberal ideals of fairness and opportunity in strong moral language. These efforts are laudable, but lack the bite of the values discourse pioneered by the right. Cheating is everywhere. By cheating I mean breaking the rules to get ahead academically, professionally or financially. The IRS reports that tax evasion has soared since the early 1980s. Professional ethics are in terrible shape, too. Conflict-of-interest problems are pervasive in medicine. In sports, steroids and other performance enhancing drugs have penetrated into more areas of competition, notably baseball. Publishing and journalism have seen an unprecedented string of scandals. Last but far from least are the corporate scandals. America's crisis of ethics is no accidental phenomenon. It is organic to the way of life proselytized by the right. Freedom, in the conservative worldview, is a state of pure competition where there are no checks on individual striving. Taken too far, though, competition is poisonous to people's ethics. The growing income gap in America is also harmful to the nation's moral health. While many Americans struggle just to make ends meet, today's winners win bigger than ever before Inequality is an obvious moral corrosive. Too many people who play by the rules end up as losers--or feel compelled to become cheaters just to stay afloat. Too many people who break the rules end up as winners--and learn that crime pays.