Once upon a time liberals were always talking about values (remember those "bleeding hearts"?) and conservatives claimed to be the practical ones. Somewhere along the line conservatives started talking more and more about values and liberals have just conceded the debate. Now Republicans claim the high moral ground and Democrats are left claiming "me too". That's a problem. We need to reclaim the high ground.
Many claim Democrats need to learn religion, become more Christian. Others say we need to reclaim patriotism or a candidate with a southern accent. Personally, I don't think the details matter, each individual needs to be true to himself (or herself), but we must understand our fundamental values and articulate them loudly and often.
So what are the base Democratic values? I've seen many lists lately, most far too long and detailed. This lists quickly devolve into policy statements and tend to be materialistic in nature. But what are our values? For myself, I see three base values, two moral and one philosophical:
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