We aspire to identify and support "pre-dawn" ideas that represent the future of progressive innovation in policy and politics. This must come not as a divorce from the past but as an evolution. Our hopes for the future are consistent with our political conscience, embodied in certain bedrock principles. To improve our future we must be true to the principles that make us who we are politically, among them the following: Citizenship and the Role of Government Civic energy, the cooperative action of citizens, is vital for national improvement. The operation of markets requires democratic boundaries to ensure that competition is fair and that outcomes are consistent with basic moral imperatives. Racial and other forms of intolerance are stronger and more persistent than many appreciate, and must be combated. The unhealthy alienation of Americans from fellow-citizens of a different economic or social background can be resolved by broad participation in military or community service. Today’s unprecedented concentration of power in the hands of a few interest groups, companies, and individuals is a danger to our way of life, and power must be spread more evenly among Americans. Quality of Life Americans should be able to count on a robust social safety net made available by the state. Health care should be made available to all Americans by any means necessary. Drastic income inequality of the kind experienced today in the U.S. represents a threat to the republic, and a moral concern that our society can and must correct. An excellent free education is the birthright of every American. It should be U.S. policy that an American who works full-time will not be poor. Securing our Nation The best way to defeat America’s enemies is to couple a sophisticated military-intelligence effort abroad with an unafraid population at home. Our national security is best served by a foreign policy that accounts for the strategic importance of American moral authority. America must invest deeply in developing and implementing an alternative to fossil fuels. We must actively work to stop global warming before it creates a human and economic disaster.