"Beyond Red and Blue"

Some good thoughts, here, from John Carr on poverty-related policies and the general principles that should shape our evaluation of them:

The Catholic social tradition of thought and action offers alternatives to the paralyzed status quo. Our principles and experience point to the moral, political and policy imperative of both/and, making connections between family and economic factors, human life and dignity, rights and responsibilities, solidarity and subsidiarity, dignity of work and rights of workers, race and class, discrimination and dependency, personal and social responsibility. These are not slogans but nuanced guides to policy. They focus more on overcoming poverty than achieving equality, require policy participation of poor people themselves, support a genuine safety net and insist on decent work at decent wages for all who can work.

The U.S. bishops have offered a four-part framework: 1. The responsibilities of individuals and families to make wise choices, marry before having children, pursue education and work. 2. The supporting roles of community and religious groups (including unions and community organizations). 3. The necessary contributions of a growing economy and the market: decent jobs, wages and benefits. 4. The obligations of government to provide a genuine safety net, promote economic vitality and act when other institutions fail to protect human life, dignity and rights. In Washington, many embrace one of these priorities and neglect the others. The complexity of poverty requires that all these institutions work together to help the poor build better lives.

"These are not slogans but nuanced guides to policy."  Well said.  In the spirit of his piece, I propose that we all abandon both the "_____ is a Randian!" and "_____ is a Socialist!" tics.