What do moral values mean to you?

[Nym90]

Ensuring that all Americans have an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of their family history or personal history. Ensuring that one's attainment of wealth is in a direct one to one correlation with one's hard work, creativity, ingenuity, and overall contribution to society.

To me, it is extremely immoral to support the interests of big business and the wealthy when they are in opposition to the interests of the vast majority of all others, which is more often than not the case.

So when I think moral values, I think of selflessness, and helping those who are worse off than yourself. Trusting people, and helping them to the fullest extent of your ability--that to me embodies morality.

[Nym90]

I don't know about everyone else, but I feel morally obliged to protect our natural resources for our children, and for their children

Yes, I forgot to mention that one. Protecting the environment for future generations is morally right.

Phillip--I do believe in property rights, but I also believe in an acknowledgement by all of the ways in which we earn more money due to the existence of government. I feel that it is morally right to help others, and to acknowledge that we all make more money due to the help of others, too.

Many government programs make society function more effectively and more efficiently, and thus increase the wealth and prosperity of all.

[Nym90]

I look at the issue of more values holistically.  Moral values don't really exist as an end in themselves, but to foster the betterment of society.

Strong moral values lead to stronger families, lower crime and ultimately a better economy.  Weak moral values lead ultimately to poverty, a weak family structure and greater human misery.

I think the role of moral values has been seriously distorted.  Those of us who support moral values are called intolerant by people who equate any type of behavior standard with judgment and hate.  These people fail to recognize how high moral values would be of immense benefit in achieving the goals they claim to have.

I think that declining moral values have played a role in widening the gap between rich and poor.  Illegitimacy, broken families, drug use, etc. have trapped many in hopeless poverty and denied educational opportunities to whole classes of children.

Many liberals seem to believe that we can have the type of society that they claim to want without moral values.  This is just not the case.  There should be more of a consensus between conservatives and liberals on the importance of moral values.

Well said. I do agree that strong values are necessary in the betterment of and empowerment of the family, but this requires a combination of economic proactivity as well as a recognition of the importance of responsiblity.

People must be responsible in their decisions, and liberals should stress this more. At the same time, conservatives need to trust the poor to do the right thing when given a fair opportunity, and a failure to do this and a mistrust of those on the bottom of the economic spectrum has led many to be completely unable to succeed due to the nature of our economic system, and thus forced them into crime and poverty.

There is a responsibility on both sides to acknowledge the basic goodness of the other, and to work together to promote both responsibility and social tolerance.