For me a great society is one in which peace and nonviolence, social justice and equal opportunity, and ecological sustainability are core values.

In a great society, all persons would have equal access to healthcare, equal access to education, equal access to the political process, and equal access to pursuing happiness in marriage.

In a great society, poverty would be seen as an urgent problem to be solved, and private prisons based on profit would be seen as moral failure.

In a great society, there would be a human dignity net to insure that people do not go without shelter, clothing, and food.

In a great society, there would be a balance between competition and collaboration and a recognition that we are all members of both the human and ecological communities and that our flourishing depends on our working together for the common good for all.

In a great society, we would be concerned not only for our generation, but for all generations to come.

In a great society, instead of arguing about whether we are the greatest society, we would be more concerned about simply making sure that we are a better society today than we were yesterday and that we will be better tomorrow than we are today.

I believe we can be a great society.