Project 2038

It starts with remembering the soul of America...

Instead of this democracy-dismantling, billionaire-boosting, demoralizing chaos we have now, we can rediscover our purpose as Americans, based on what we share in common and value the most. We can set out to achieve goals that will repair our broken society and lead us to flourish together.

Here’s what that can look like. It starts with remembering the soul of America.

When you boil it down, what we share as Americans is a commitment to being a diverse nation based on three big ideas:

freedom, fairness and duty.

Fairness

This country was built on the idea that everyone deserves fair treatment before the law and a fair chance to pursue happiness. But today, things are deeply unfair. Too much power is in too few hands. The richest Americans and biggest corporations aren’t even close to paying their fair share, while the rest of us work harder yet fall further behind.

Here’s the deal: anyone working, studying, raising kids, caregiving, or unable to work due to disability should have food, housing, healthcare, education, and transportation. That’s basic fairness. That’s the American way.

We know that throughout our history we haven’t always lived up to our values of fairness. We still have quite a ways to go today. Racism and its ongoing injustices are unfair. Unequal opportunities and the demonization of vulnerable groups are unfair. Prejudging people—including those in the majority—is unfair. There’s a lot of work to be done to get where we want to go.

We have made progress before and that proves that we have what it takes to overcome injustices again. Our deep sense of fairness gave us the courage to end slavery, secure women’s voting rights, pass civil rights laws, and achieve marriage equality.That same commitment should guide us today.

We need to work on issues of fairness together, without rigid dogmas demanding that we solve our problems in only one way. We need to give each other the benefit of the doubt in our conversations. We need to care about making a society that is free and fair for everyone.

Duty

A free and fair country depends on our responsibilities to each other, our Constitution, and our core values. Americans have a strong sense of duty—we show up, work hard, and make sacrifices in our families, professions, and communities. But our shared duty to our country and fellow citizens has been damaged.

Social media and partisan news have disrupted our instinct to trust our neighbors. Outrage-driven algorithms erode the social glue that binds us, making us see each other as enemies and leaving us miserable.

Thankfully, many of us suspect this media machine is dishonest and doesn’t serve our interests. When we tune out the noise, we feel the deeper truth—we long to show up for each other. We are drawn to our nation’s motto: out of many, one. We can rebuild trust, following our instincts to believe in the basic decency of fellow Americans.

It’s our duty to ensure our neighbors have food, shelter, and dignity. Our duty to defend each other’s freedoms. Our duty to steward our environment for future generations.

When disaster strikes, we don’t ask about politics—we show up, ready to help, give, and serve. We want to be one nation, united by duty. Today, we need more ways to do that. And we can make it happen—together.

Freedom

It’s our mission to be the freest country on earth. That’s what our Constitution and Bill of Rights are all about.

Being free means loving our diversity. It means having the right to worship however you want, or not to worship at all — it’s your business. It means being able to marry the person you love. It means having the same rights as your neighbor no matter what you look like or where you come from. It means having the right to make deeply personal decisions about your identity and your body — decisions that other people don’t have to understand but that are nonetheless yours to make.

But there’s still more to true freedom.

Freedom can’t happen if you can’t eat. Or if you can’t make rent. Or if you can’t afford to see the doctor when you’re sick. Or if you can’t get where you need to go to work or study. That’s why we need to make it our mission to build an America where we are all truly free.