Robust government provision is needed to invert the value gap

Evidence

At the heart of those efforts is a more robust conception of government—a belief that government has the capacity to transform lives through focused legislation—and an insistence that we shift the center of moral gravity in North Carolina and in the nation. Five demands guide this insistence: (1) secure pro-labor, anti-poverty policies that ensure economic sustainability; (2) provide well-funded, quality public education to all; (3) stand up for the health of every North Carolinian by promoting health care access and environmental justice across all the state’s communities; (4) address the continuing inequalities in the criminal justice system and ensure equality under the law for every person, regardless of race, class, creed, documentation, or sexual preference; and (5) protect and expand voting rights for people of color, immigrants, the elderly, and students to safeguard fair democratic representation. Each demand carries with it an expectation of the role of government in safeguarding the public good and an affirmation of the dignity and standing of all Americans. If we were to embrace these demands as policy, we would be well on our way to a revolution of value. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 534

Categorization

• DEFINE: Concrete policy content of a ‘revolution of value’ — what closing the value gap means operationally rather than rhetorically.
• ADDENDUM: The five demands ground what would make Black electoral leverage meaningful beyond protest votes.