The Truth About Moral Values
From the Secretary-Treasurer, William Lucy
Years ago, I joined AFSCME committed to helping my fellow workers advance the values of dignity and respect, fair wages, good benefits and a voice on the job. Today, I can proudly say that our union has never wavered in its mission to protect those values against those who attack or ignore them.
Moreover, I have become increasingly proud to stand on the frontlines as an ever-changing labor movement held fast to its mission of lifting the lives of everyday Americans — everywhere. Those who have no voice can count on unions to speak on their behalf, bringing critical issues to the forefront of America's collective conscience.
Our steady drumbeat has called attention to jobs and to high-quality, affordable health care, good public education, preservation of Social Security and Medicare, the plight of the poor and a host of vital issues that matter to millions of Americans. Sadly, those were apparently not the issues that were on the minds of 60,693,281 Americans who cast ballots for this administration — a result, as has been claimed, that was delivered by the hand of the religious right.
THE POLITICAL PULPIT. In a strategy game modeled after the successful efforts of the progressive community, the religious right distributed millions of pieces of literature to tens of thousands of churches. Mailings were followed by phone calls to church leaders urging them to include politics — right-wing, pro-Bush politics — in sermons to their congregations, even though it is unlawful for a member of the clergy to endorse any candidate from the pulpit.
The message got through, and by Election Day the issue of moral values was completely distorted. Instead of focusing on bread-and-butter issues — job losses, skyrocketing budget deficits, tax cuts overwhelmingly favoring the wealthy, an unnecessary and hugely expensive war based on lies and distortions —millions of voters cast ballots that might one day leave their children unable to afford bread and butter.
Now, I am certainly not saying that moral values have no place in America's political conversation. Sure they do. But I am saying this: Led by Bush adviser Karl Rove, the religious right managed to transform an entire election — one in which very consequential issues were at stake — into one that encouraged people to vote against their best interests.
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE. So, where do we go from here? I believe that we can, and we must, widen the currently narrow conversation on values to include all of the issues for which labor and the entire community has fought long and hard — issues that, rightfully, belong squarely under the moral-values umbrella.
Currently, we are a nation speeding toward social polarization and religious intolerance — both of which will divide rather than unite, reverse rather than advance a national agenda around which we might build a consensus.
Isn't it morally right to provide every child with a good education, to help our seniors live out their days in dignity, to feed the hungry and help more Americans get ahead, to be prudent and humane in our use of military power? By any reasonable, sensitive definition of morality, the answer is obviously yes! And for many years, the House of Labor has said just that.
Now is the time for us to redouble our efforts and perhaps re-craft our message. Now is the time to ensure that in the four years to come, many more Americans — whether or not they're union members — know the right answer to that question.
